An attribute ranking method based on rough sets and interval-valued fuzzy sets

Abstract

Feature importance is a complex issue in machine learning, as determining a superior attribute is vague, uncertain, and dependent on the model. This study introduces a rough-fuzzy hybrid (RAFAR) method that merges various techniques from rough set theory and fuzzy set theory to tackle uncertainty in attribute importance and ranking. RAFAR utilizes an interval-valued fuzzy matrix to depict preference between attribute pairs. This research focuses on constructing these matrices from datasets and identifying suitable rankings based on these matrices. The concept of interval-valued weight vectors is introduced to represent attribute importance, and their additive and multiplicative compatibility is examined. The properties of these consistency types and the efficient algorithms for solving related problems are discussed. These new theoretical findings are valuable for creating effective optimization models and algorithms within the RAFAR framework. Additionally, novel approaches for constructing pairwise comparison matrices and enhancing the scalability of RAFAR are suggested. The study also includes experimental results on benchmark datasets to demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed solutions.