Combination and Propagation of Uncertainty with Belief Functions - A Reexamination

The behavior of Dempster's rule of combination in typical situations is examined. Particularly, it is shown that assessing a zero value or a very small value may lead to very different results. Moreover a comparison with a possibility theory-based approach in case of conflicting information is provided. The general problem of representing uncertainty with one or several numbers is addressed. Lastly, the propagation of uncertainty from a fact and "if...then..." rule is discussed in the framework of belief functions.