Making Group Decisions within the Framework of a Probabilistic Hesitant Fuzzy Linear Regression Model

Abstract

A fuzzy set extension known as the hesitant fuzzy set (HFS) has increased in popularity for decision making in recent years, especially when experts have had trouble evaluating several alternatives by employing a single value for assessment when working in a fuzzy environment. However, it has a significant problem in its uses, i.e., considerable data loss. The probabilistic hesitant fuzzy set (PHFS) has been proposed to improve the HFS. It provides probability values to the HFS and has the ability to retain more information than the HFS. Previously, fuzzy regression models such as the fuzzy linear regression model (FLRM) and hesitant fuzzy linear regression model were used for decision making; however, these models do not provide information about the distribution. To address this issue, we proposed a probabilistic hesitant fuzzy linear regression model (PHFLRM) that incorporates distribution information to account for multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problems. The PHFLRM observes the input–output (IPOP) variables as probabilistic hesitant fuzzy elements (PHFEs) and uses a linear programming model (LPM) to estimate the parameters. A case study is used to illustrate the proposed methodology. Additionally, an MCDM technique called the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) is employed to compare the PHFLRM findings with those obtained using TOPSIS. Lastly, Spearman’s rank correlation test assesses the statistical significance of two rankings sets.