Marginal likelihood based model comparison in Fuzzy Bayesian Learning

Abstract: In a paper [1] we introduced the Fuzzy Bayesian Learning (FBL) paradigm where expert opinions can be encoded in the form of fuzzy rule bases and the hyper-parameters of the fuzzy sets can be learned from data using a Bayesian approach. The present paper extends this work for selecting the most appropriate rule base among a set of competing alternatives, which best explains the data, by calculating the model evidence or marginal likelihood. We explain why this is an attractive alternative over simply minimizing a mean squared error metric of prediction and show the validity of the proposition using synthetic examples and a real world case study in the financial services sector.