Representations of uncertainty in risk analysis

Uncertainty in situations involving risk is frequently modelled by assuming a plausible form of probability distribution for the uncertain quantities involved, and estimating the relevant parameters of that distribution based on the knowledge and judgement of informed experts or decision makers. The distributions assumed are usually uni-modal (and often bell-shaped) around some most likely value, with the Normal, Beta, Gamma and Triangular distributions being popular choices. [Continues.]