Chapter 8: Knowledge Engineering

and Acquisition
Decision Support Systems in the
21st Century, 2nd Edition
by George M. Marakas
Marakas: Decision Support Systems, 2nd Edition 2003, Prentice-Hall

Chapter 8 - 1

8-1: The Concept of Knowledge

Data: facts, measurements or observations
with or without context
Information: data organized in a manner
useful to a problem solver in making
decisions
Knowledge: the application of instincts, rules
and information to guide the actions of a
decision maker
Marakas: Decision Support Systems, 2nd Edition
2003, Prentice-Hall

Chapter 8 - 2

Knowledge perspectives
Representation: how knowledge is
presented; for example, a book is not
knowledge but a representation of it
Production: knowledge is a set of inventories
that can be manufactured as well as acquired
States: knowledge is a set of six hierarchical
states:
1. data
2. information 3. structured info
4. insight 5. judgment
6. decision
Marakas: Decision Support Systems, 2nd Edition
2003, Prentice-Hall

Chapter 8 - 3

Knowledge Types
Primary
Descriptive data, information
Procedural how to do something
Reasoning policies or rules
Secondary
Linguistic vocabulary or grammar
Assimilative permissible contents
Presentation graphing, messaging
Marakas: Decision Support Systems, 2nd Edition
2003, Prentice-Hall

Chapter 8 - 4

8-2: Knowledge Acquisition

for Expert Systems
Most methods begin with a model of the task
for which the ES is to be built
In addition, a description of the domain is
generated
Finally, the knowledge engineer uses models,
hypotheses and cognitive analysis techniques
to elicit the problem-solving knowledge from
experts
Marakas: Decision Support Systems, 2nd Edition
2003, Prentice-Hall

Chapter 8 - 5

Dimensions of Knowledge Acquisition

KE-driven: the knowledge engineer interacts
directly with the experts
Expert-driven: the expert encodes his or her
expertise directly into the computer system
Machine-driven: inference engines extract
the knowledge from a set of examples

Marakas: Decision Support Systems, 2nd Edition

2003, Prentice-Hall

Chapter 8 - 6

Knowledge Acquisition Techniques

Interviewing: two common types are
unstructured (conversational) and structured
(using a script)
Verbal Protocol Analysis: a record is made as
an expert performs a task. The engineer then
constructs a model for what transpired
Repertory Grid Method: the expert compares
successive groups of three objects and tells
why two differ from the third
Marakas: Decision Support Systems, 2nd Edition
2003, Prentice-Hall

Chapter 8 - 7

Multisource Knowledge Acquisition

It is likely that multiple sources will be needed
to fully acquire the knowledge for a problem
and conflicting views and opinions often arise.
The consensus method (similar to the
technique used in chapter 5) will resolve many.
The Meta-Analysis technique is applied in other
cases. This more quantitative approach
requires the knowledge engineer to weigh the
various experts inputs.
Marakas: Decision Support Systems, 2nd Edition
2003, Prentice-Hall

Chapter 8 - 8

8-3: Validating and Verifying the

Knowledge Base
Once knowledge is captured, it must be
evaluated for usability and accuracy. Two
specific issues are validity of the knowledge
and verification of the knowledge base
construction.
Validation looks at whether the system
performs at an acceptable level.
Verification involves comparing each of the
systems original specifications to what was
finally implemented.
Marakas: Decision Support Systems, 2nd Edition
2003, Prentice-Hall

Chapter 8 - 9

Some validation measures

Accuracy
Adaptability
Adequacy
Breadth
Depth
Face Validity

Generality
Precision
Realism
Reliability
Robustness
Usefulness

Marakas: Decision Support Systems, 2nd Edition

2003, Prentice-Hall

Chapter 8 - 10