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What is Uncertainty

Advanced Models and Tools for Effective Decision Making Under Uncertainty and Risk Contexts
The fact of not being known precisely, nor fixed, confident, assured or clearly determined. In other words, it refers to something hesitant, unknown, unstable or likely to change.
Published in Chapter:
Risk and Uncertainty on Technology and Science Under Bayes and Popper's Statements View
Vicente Gonzalez-Prida (University of Seville, Spain & Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Spain), Jesus Zamora Bonilla (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Spain), Christopher Nikulin Chandia (University Federico Santa María, Chile), and Antonio Guillén (University of Seville, Spain)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-3246-1.ch007
Abstract
The overall perspective of this study is related to the concept of risk and uncertainty in the world today. In this sense, it considers Popper's contributions together with the deductive method, contrasted Bayes' contributions with the inductive method. On one hand, induction allows to generate results considered probabilistically true. This is basically the method used by supervised predictive methods of machine learning, where a general rule is inferred from particular examples in which solutions are known, inducing consequently to possible results for new inputs. On the other hand, deduction is a process in which general hypotheses are proposed, and from them, particular statements are obtained. These particular statements can obviously generate the rejection of those initial hypotheses. Under these considerations, Bayes' and Popper's postulates should not be understood as opposed methods. With this, the specific objectives of this chapter states on an overview about technology and its relationship with science, being analyzed from the Popperian and Bayesian perspective.
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Effects of Corporate Cartelization: The Case of the Toilet Paper Cartel in Colombia
Uncertainty refers to the lack of knowledge or certainty about a future outcome. It can be caused by the lack of information, data variability, the complexity of a system, or the inability to accurately predict an outcome. Uncertainty is a common part of decision-making and modelling in a wide variety of fields. Uncertainty is related to the lack of predictability and clarity about the future. In an uncertain environment, it is difficult to anticipate the results of decisions and actions, which requires constant adaptability.
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Minimal Spanning Tree in Cylindrical Single-Valued Neutrosophic Arena
The word uncertainty means vagueness. It occurs only when the boundary of a piece of information is not clear-cut. The concept of uncertainty was first introduced by L.A. Zadeh in his research paper in 1965 as an extension of classical notion of set.
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Analysis of Frequency Domain Data Generated by a Quartz Crystal
The range of possible values where the true value of the measurement is located.
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Information Need and the Beginning of Information Search
An operational definition of the gap in knowledge that is the start state for information search. There is a cognitive and an affective component to uncertainty.
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Orientism Management Strategy for Training Policy-Makers in Emergency Decision-Making
Describes any situation without certainty, whether or not described by a probability distribution. Uncertainty is caused by natural variation and/or incomplete knowledge (lack of understanding or insufficient data).
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Quantifying Economic Uncertainties and Risks in the Oil and Gas Industry
State of limited knowledge where it is impossible to describe the existing state, a future outcome etc.
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A TOE Perspective of E-Business Deployment in Financial Firms
Describes the condition in which reasonable knowledge regarding risks, benefits, or the future is not available.
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Technology-Based Innovation for Business Model Innovation
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Socio-Ecological System Implications of Organizational Resilience
The situation of ignorance that one has about what will happen in the future.
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Risk Management in the Digital Economy
The situation where less-than-perfect knowledge exists about a particular problem or decision requirement. There exists a wide variation in terms of degrees of uncertainty from extreme uncertainty (i.e., very limited knowledge of outcomes or likelihood of their occurrence) to near certainty (i.e., almost complete knowledge of the outcomes and the likelihood of occurrence). Generally, an uncertain decision situation refers to one containing ambiguity about part or all of the decision parameters.
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Semantic Web Uncertainty Management
A form of deficiency/imperfection in the information where the truth of information is not established definitely.
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Probabilistic Methods for Uncertainty Quantification
It is “the absence of perfectly detailed knowledge. Uncertainty includes incertitude (the exact value is not known) and variability (the value is changing). Uncertainty may also include other forms such as vagueness, ambiguity and fuzziness (in the sense of border-line cases)” (Ferson et al., 2004, p. 130).
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The Old-Generation School Managers and the New-Generation School Managers From the Aspect of Career Adaptability
A situation that is not known or the feeling of not being sure what will happen in the future.
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The Impact on Decision Making of Centralisation in a Multinational Manufacturing Company: The Materials Purchasing Function
The variability introduced into business decision making by fluctuations in factors external to, and beyond the control of, the organisation. Generally caused by aspects of customer behaviour, market dynamics, and competitive forces.
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Internationalization in Times of Uncertainty: Expanding From Europe Towards Asia
Is a perceived lack of certainty, reliability or validity of an event. It refers to situations where there is an unknown future or where this future is known but not predictable ( Liesch et al., 2011 ). No information about the possible outcomes of processes is available to decision-makers ( Fueglistaller et al., 2012 ) or the existing information is too imprecise to determine a probability from it.
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Bayesian Agent Adaptation in Complex Dynamic Systems
An agent in an uncertain environment does not know of all the parameters within that environment.
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An Exploration of Career Adaptation of Teachers: A Comparison Between Public and Private School Teachers
Difficulty experienced in evaluating the properties and the future of a job.
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Common-Sense Epidemiology in the Age of Electronic Patient Records (EPR)
Here uncertainty refers to a person's doubt about the meaning of information. This type of uncertainty means that the person is aware of not knowing how to make sense of the information provided to him.
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Social Media Analytics for Maintaining Financial Stability
When the outcome of an event is uncertain and one doesn’t know all possible outcomes and/or their probabilities, then outcome is said to be uncertain.
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Time Operations
Uncertainty means not-certainty; throughout the submergence into the nature of time; namely by folded time and lived time awareness, was discovered that all the “not-words of time”—such as uncertainty, impermanence, indeterminate, incompleteness—are more than negative words. They are a condensation of both the “root” word meaning (positive) and the “no” prefixed word meaning that transform them into the ‘becoming ‘words for the paradoxical nature of time – one that “is” and one that “is not” simultaneously. As Heraclitus states, “We are and we are not.”.
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Using “Plain Vanilla” Online Discussions to Foster Students' Learning: From Research to Practice
A feeling, typically a cognitive one, when an individual experiences a sense of wondering, doubting, or being unsure.
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Innovation as a Fundamental Tool for Colombian Agricultural Green Businesses in VUCA Environments
Uncertainty refers to the lack of certainty or secure information about an event or situation. It is the absence of security about what will happen in the future.
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PROMETHEE
With PROMETHEE, the certainty in the rank position of alternatives, considered through the minimum changes in criteria values to effect an alternatives rank position.
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Uncertainties in Safety and Security: Uncertainties in Critical Infrastructure Protection and Human Factors
is commonly considered as any departure from the unachievable ideal of complete determinism.
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Fundamentals for the Challenge of Controlling Risk Through Standardization
The fact of not being known precisely, nor fixed, confident, assured or clearly determined. In other words, it refers to something hesitant, unknown, unstable, or likely to change.
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Predictive Genetic Testing,Uncertainty, and Informed Consent
Any deviation from the “unachievable ideal of completely deterministic knowledge of the relevant system” ( Walker et al., 2003 ). In order to help policymakers to identify, assess and report uncertainty, it has been defined through a typology, which includes three dimensions of uncertainty, namely, location, nature and level of the uncertainty.
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Activity: Initializing the IT Audit Report
Is insufficient audit evidence collection.
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Institutionalized Organizational Internal, Environmental, and Interacting Variables and Perspectives
Refers to epistemic anomalies involving imperfect or unknown information. Applies to predictions of future events.
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Circular Economy and Sustainable Tourism Management: Uncertainties and Challenges Ahead
Scientific concept used in risk assessment to describe all types of limitations in available knowledge at the time an assessment is conducted, with the agreed resources, that affect the probability of possible outcomes to the assessment.
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Data Guided Public Healthcare Decision Making
When a feature is not quite deterministic in its occurrence or absence, there could be an associated uncertain reason. The lack of certainty, a state of having limited knowledge where it is impossible to exactly describe the existing state, a future outcome, or more than one possible outcome.
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Managerial Decision Support in the Post-COVID-19 Era: Towards Information-Based Management
A key concept in information theory and statistics corresponding to a lack of full (deterministic) knowledge.
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Real Options for the Valuation of Investment Projects: Practical Case
Lack of knowledge of the future behavior of an event due to the lack of information on the variables that will affect that event.
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Real Options Reasoning as a Tool for Managerial Decision Making
When the outcomes of investments cannot be estimated in the initial stages, there is uncertainty in the economic environment. Two forms of uncertainty exist, namely, market uncertainty and technical uncertainty. Market uncertainty is exogenous to the investor (e.g., firm) and correlated with economic fundamentals. Technical uncertainty is endogenous and depends on the level of initial investment made. Uncertainty is dynamically evolving and thus affects the evolution of the value of the option through time.
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Managing Healthcare Organizational Change During Uncertainty: Perspective of COVID-19
The uncertainty refers to lack of certainty or a state of knowledge where it is impossible to exactly describe the existing state, a future outcome or inability to predict a situation like the effect of current pandemic (COVID-19).
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Pervasive Grids: Challenges and Opportunities
The dubiety that can be put on the system, the application or the information in a pervasive grid. Information cannot be accepted without doubt and double checking, redundancy, is often the rule.
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Decision Making Under Uncertainty and Risks in the Face of Rapidly Advancing Technologies
The state of being uncertain, doubt or hesitancy. It refers also to unpredictability, indeterminacy, indefiniteness, etc.
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Patchwork Prototyping with Open Source Software
The name for a lack of knowledge that can be addressed by obtaining more information, such as by researching an answer, looking it up in reference materials, or collecting data.
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Challenges and Opportunities in Knowledge Representation and Reasoning
Uncertainty refers to epistemic situations involving imperfect or unknown information.
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Project Management Tools and Techniques to Deal With Disruptive Situations in Projects: An Applied Research in the Colombian Context
A characteristic of a project related to the lack of knowledge, understanding, and/or awareness, that affect its ability of fulfill project goals, by increasing the impact of issues and risks.
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