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  • © 2021

Expert Judgement in Risk and Decision Analysis

  • Contributions of Roger Cooke and the Classical Model, as well as a section on Training and Education
  • Based on the COST (European Cooperation in Science & Technology) Action on “Expert Judgement”
  • Analyses of Classical Model in various application domains

Part of the book series: International Series in Operations Research & Management Science (ISOR, volume 293)

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Table of contents (23 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
  2. Introduction and Overview of Structured Expert Judgement

    • Simon French, Anca M. Hanea, Tim Bedford, Gabriela F. Nane
    Pages 1-16
  3. Current Research

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 17-17
    2. Recent Advances in the Elicitation of Uncertainty Distributions from Experts for Multinomial Probabilities

      • Kevin J. Wilson, Fadlalla G. Elfadaly, Paul H. Garthwaite, Jeremy E. Oakley
      Pages 19-51
    3. Are Performance Weights Beneficial? Investigating the Random Expert Hypothesis

      • Deniz Marti, Thomas A. Mazzuchi, Roger M. Cooke
      Pages 53-82
    4. Customized Structural Elicitation

      • Rachel L. Wilkerson, Jim Q. Smith
      Pages 83-113
    5. Adversarial Risk Analysis as a Decomposition Method for Structured Expert Judgement Modelling

      • David Ríos Insua, David Banks, Jesús Ríos, Jorge González-Ortega
      Pages 179-196
  4. Cooke and the Classical Model

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 197-198
    2. A Number of Things

      • Roger M. Cooke
      Pages 199-213
    3. The Classical Model: The Early Years

      • Simon French
      Pages 215-224
    4. An In-Depth Perspective on the Classical Model

      • Anca M. Hanea, Gabriela F. Nane
      Pages 225-256
    5. Building on Foundations: An Interview with Roger Cooke

      • Gabriela F. Nane, Anca M. Hanea
      Pages 257-269
  5. Process, Procedures and Education

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 271-271
    2. Developing a Training Course in Structured Expert Judgement

      • Philip Bonanno, Abigail Colson, Simon French
      Pages 319-343
    3. Expert Judgement for Geological Hazards in New Zealand

      • Annemarie Christophersen, Matthew C. Gerstenberger
      Pages 345-371
    4. Using the Classical Model for Source Attribution of Pathogen-Caused Illnesses

      • Elizabeth Beshearse, Gabriela F. Nane, Arie H. Havelaar
      Pages 373-385

About this book

This book pulls together many perspectives on the theory, methods and practice of drawing judgments from panels of experts in assessing risks and making decisions in complex circumstances. The book is divided into four parts: Structured Expert Judgment (SEJ) current research fronts; the contributions of Roger Cooke and the Classical Model he developed; process, procedures and education; and applications.

After an Introduction by the Editors, the first part presents chapters on expert elicitation of parameters of multinomial models; the advantages of using performance weighting by advancing the “random expert” hypothesis; expert elicitation for specific graphical models; modelling dependencies between experts’ assessments within a Bayesian framework; preventive maintenance optimization in a Bayesian framework; eliciting life time distributions to parametrize a Dirichlet process; and on an adversarial risk analysis approach for structured expert judgment studies.


The second part includes Roger Cooke’s oration from 1995 on taking up his chair at Delft University of Technology; one of the editors reflections on the early decade of the Classical Model development and use; a current overview of the theory of the Classical Model, providing a deep and comprehensive perspective on its foundations and its application; and an interview with Roger Cooke.


The third part starts with an interview with Professor Dame Anne Glover, who served as the Chief Scientific Advisor to the President of the European Commission. It then presents chapters on the characteristics of good elicitations by reviewing those advocated and applied; the design and development of a training course for SEJ; and on specific experiences with SEJ protocols with the intention of presenting the challenges and insights collected during these journeys.


Finally, the fourth (and largest) part begins with some reflections from Willy Aspinall on his many experiences in applying the Classical Model in several application domains; it continues with related reflections on imperfect elicitations; and then it presents chapters with applications on medicines policy and management, supply chain cyber risk management, geo-political risks, terrorism and the risks facing businesses looking to internationalise.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Center of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis (CEBRA), University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

    Anca M. Hanea

  • Delft Institute of Applied Mathematics, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

    Gabriela F. Nane

  • Department of Management Science, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK

    Tim Bedford

  • Department of Statistics, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK

    Simon French

About the editors

Anca M. Hanea is a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis, University of Melbourne, Australia. Her research combines decision (under uncertainty) analysis with structured expert judgement methodologies. Anca’s work focuses on the implementation of uncertainty analysis in decision making.

Gabriela F. Nane is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics at the Delft University of Technology in Delft, The Netherlands. Her research interests include risk analysis, uncertainty analysis and Bayesian networks. Her current research primarily focuses on uncertainty quantification and analysis, both data-driven and by employing expert opinions, both from an applied, as well as from a theoretical perspective.


Tim Bedford is a Professor of Decision and Risk Analysis at University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. Additionally, he is Associate Principal for Research and Innovation at Strathclyde. His research interests include Structured Expert Judgement and evidence-based decision making, risk acceptance criteria, and decision analysis. He is the co-author with R. Cooke of Probabilistic Risk Analysis: Foundations and Methods (Cambridge), and has co-edited five other books.


Simon French is a Professor of Statistics in the Applied Statistics and Risk Unit at the University of Warwick, U.K. His research interests include Bayesian statistics, decision making, and risk. He is author or co-author of nine books.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access