Ranking of fuzzy intervals seen through the imprecise probabilistic lens》.pdf

Available online at ScienceDirect Fuzzy Sets and Systems 278 (2015) 20–39 /locate/fss Ranking of fuzzy intervals seen through the imprecise probabilistic lens a b,∗ Sébastien Destercke , Inés Couso a UMR CNRS 7253 Heudyasic UTC, Compiègne, France b Statistics Department, University of Oviedo, Gijón, Spain Received 9 May 2014; received in revised form 15 December 2014; accepted 16 December 2014 Available online 24 December 2014 Abstract Within the fuzzy literature, the issue of ranking fuzzy intervals has been addressed by many authors, who proposed various solutions to the problem. Most of these solutions intend to find a total order on a given collection of fuzzy intervals. However, if one sees fuzzy intervals as descriptions of uncertain quantities, an alternative to rank them is to use ranking rules issued from the imprecise probabilistic literature. In this paper, we investigate ranking rules based on different statistical features (mean, median) and orderings, and relate the obtained (partial) orders to some classical proposals. In particular, we propose a generic expression of stochastic orderings, and then use it to systematically investigate extensions of the most usual stochastic orderings to fuzzy intervals. We also show some relations between those extensions, and explore their relation with existing fuz