Fuzzy regression analysis: Systematic review and bibliography

Abstract

Abstract Statistical regression analysis is a powerful and reliable method to determine the impact of one or several independent variable(s) on a dependent variable. It is the most widely used of all statistical methods and has broad applicability to numerous practical problems. However, various problems can arise, when for instance the sample size is too small, distributional assumptions are not fulfilled, the relationship between independent and dependent variables is vague or when there is an ambiguity of events. Moreover, the complexity of real-life problems often makes the underlying models inadequate, since information is frequently imprecise in many ways. To relax these rigidities, numerous researchers have modified and extended concepts of statistical regression analysis by means of concepts of fuzzy set theory. By now, there is a large number of papers on the topic of fuzzy regression analysis, especially concerning possibilistic, fuzzy least squares or machine learning approaches. Additionally, the variety of approaches includes probabilistic, logistic, type-2 and clusterwise fuzzy regression methods, among many others. Besides papers mainly devoted to advances in methodology, there are also several papers presenting case studies in various research fields. To structure this diversity of papers, proposals and applications we give in this paper a comprehensive systematic review and provide a bibliography on the topic of fuzzy regression analysis. Thus, the paper intends to consolidate the topic in order to aid new researchers in this area, focuses the field’s attention on key open questions, and highlights possible directions for future research.