Assessing the value of a candidate: Comparing belief function and possibility theories

The problem of assessing the value of a can­ didate is viewed here as a multiple combi­ nation problem. On the one hand a candi­ date can be evaluated according to different criteria, and on the other hand several ex­ perts are supposed to assess the value of can­ didates according to each criterion. Criteria are not equally important, experts are not equally competent or reliable. Moreover lev­ els of satisfaction of criteria, or levels of confi­ dence are only assumed to take their values in linearly ordered scales, whose nature is often qualitative. The problem is discussed within two frameworks, the transferable belief model and the qualitative possibility theory. They respectively offer a quantitative and a quali­ tative setting for handling the problem, pro­ viding thus a way to compare the nature of the underlying assumptions.