The DOI matches its Crossref record; 8 of the 9 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
“How Probable is Probable? A Numerical Translation of Verbal Probability Expressions.”
Abstract
Abstract The reported experiment took place in a professional forecasting organization accustomed to giving verbal probability assessments (‘likely’, ‘probable’, etc.). It attempts to highlight the communication problems caused by verbal probability expressions and to offer possible solutions that are compatible with the forecasters overall perspective on their jobs Experts in the organization were first asked to give a numerical translation to 30 different verbal probability expressions most of which were taken from the organization's own published political forecasts. In a second part of the experiment the experts were given 15 paragraphs selected from the organization's political publications each of which contained at least one verbal expression of probability. Subjects were again asked to give a numerical translation to each verbal probability expression The results indicate that (a) there is a high variability in the interpretation of verbal probability expressions and (b) the variability is even higher in context. Possible reasons for the context effect are discussed and practical implications are suggested.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“When analysts use terms like”
From The Value of Precision in Probability Assessment: Evidence from a Large-Scale Geopolitical Forecasting Tournament (2018) · cites this paper as Beyth-Merom 1982
Citations
Cites
Calibration of probabilities: the state of the art to 1980
Lichtenstein, S., Fischhoff, B., & Phillips, L. D. (1982) · Judgment under Uncertainty · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511809477.023 · Cited by 1,967
Empirical scaling of common verbal phrases associated with numerical probabilities
Lichtenstein, S., & Newman, J. R. (1967) · Psychonomic Science · doi:10.3758/bf03327890 · Cited by 313
Warner, J. (1968) · Journal of applied meteorology · doi:10.1175/1520-0450(1968)007 · Cited by 161
The specific meanings of certain terms indicating differing degrees of frequency
Simpson, R. H. (1944) · Quarterly Journal of Speech · doi:10.1080/00335634409381009 · Cited by 106
Value as a Determiner of Subjective Probability
Slovic, P. (1966) · IEEE Transactions on Human Factors in Electronics · doi:10.1109/thfe.1966.231980 · Cited by 78
Micrwave Maps of the Polar Ice of the Earth
Gloersen, P., Willicit, T. T., Chang, T., Nordberg, W., & Campbell, W. J. (1974) · Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society · doi:10.1175/1520-0477(1974)055 · Cited by 62
Stability in meanings for quantitative terms: A comparison over 20 years
Simpson, R. H. (1963) · Quarterly Journal of Speech · doi:10.1080/00335636309382600 · Cited by 58
Word usage and synonym representation in the English language.
Lepley, W. M., & Kobrick, J. L. (1952) · Journal of Abnormal & Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/h0059745 · Cited by 6
Flagged first, then by citations
1 of the 9 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Heuer R. J., 1978, Quantitative approaches to political intelligence: The CIA experience
- Raiffa H., 1968, Decision analysis
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Items 401–500 of 525
Ferguson, H. J. (2019) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198791768.013.9 · Cited by 2
Spotorno, N., & Noveck, I. A. (2019) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198791768.013.16 · Cited by 2
A threat–response multi‐criteria funding model for homeland security grant programs
Madjid Tavana, D. (2007) · International Transactions in Operational Research · doi:10.1111/j.1475-3995.2007.00587.x · Cited by 2
Predicting binary choices from probability phrase meanings
Wallsten, T. S., & Jang, Y. (2008) · Psychonomic Bulletin & Review · doi:10.3758/pbr.15.4.772 · Cited by 2
Architecture-level dependability analysis of a medical decision support system
Pullum, L., Symons, C. T., Patton, R. M., & Beckerman, B. G. (2010) · Software Engineering in Health Care · doi:10.1145/1809085.1809096 · Cited by 2
THEMATIC PROGRAM: INTEGRATED PROJECTS ON RISK ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY
Paques, J.-J., & Gauthier, F. (2006) · PhareSST · Cited by 2
Bocklisch, F., Georg, A., Bocklisch, S. F., & Krems, J. F. (2013) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 2
Electromagnetic Field Exposure: Risk Communication in the context of Uncertainty
del Pozo, C., Wiedemann, P. M., Papameletiou, D., Ravazzani, P., & van Deventer, E. (2009) · JuSER (Forschungszentrum Jülich) · Cited by 2
Definitely maybe and possibly even probably: efficient communication of higher-order uncertainty.
Herbstritt, M., & Franke, M. (2016) · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Cited by 2
Solt, S. (2019) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198791768.013.27 · Cited by 2
Does horizontal and vertical thinking provide the right angle of approach to complex problems?
Welsby, P. D. (2020) · Postgraduate Medical Journal · doi:10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-138462 · Cited by 2
Incorporating Risk and Uncertainty into Environmental Evaluation. An Annotated Bibliography.
Yoe, C. E. (1996) · Cited by 2
Baghal, T. A. (2014) · Journal of Methods and Measurement in the Social Sciences · doi:10.2458/jmm.v5i2.18476 · Cited by 2
Juanchich, M., Sirota, M., & Teigen, K. H. (2023) · Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology · doi:10.1177/17470218231153394 · Cited by 2
Duke, M. (2024) · Intelligence and national security · doi:10.1080/02684527.2024.2392376 · Cited by 1
Do GAAP And IFRS Differ In Collectiblity Judgments Related To Revenue Recognition?
Du, N., Alford, R. M., & Smith, P. L. (2016) · Journal of Applied Business Research (JABR) · doi:10.19030/jabr.v32i6.9815 · Cited by 2
Gierusz, J., Koleśnik, K., & Silska-Gembka, S. (2019) · European Financial and Accounting Journal · doi:10.18267/j.efaj.221 · Cited by 2
Chen, S. Y., & Husband, E. M. (2019) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198791768.013.10 · Cited by 2
Evaluating strategic alternatives
TavanaMadjid, & BanerjeeSnehamay (1995) · Computers & Operations Research · Cited by 2
Wilks, D. S. (2019) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-815823-4.00002-x · Cited by 2
Investigating the influence of outcome utility on estimates of probability
Harris, A. J. L. (2009) · ORCA Online Research @Cardiff (Cardiff University) · Cited by 2
The communication and influence of confidence and uncertainty
Wesson, C. J. (2005) · OpenGrey (Institut de l'Information Scientifique et Technique) · Cited by 3
The impact of consumer knowledge, information mode and presentation form on advertising effects
Nagaraj, S. (2007) · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) · Cited by 2
Perceived Risks of Radionuclides: Understanding Public Understanding
Fischhoff, B., & Svenson, O. (1988) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-1610-3_33 · Cited by 2
Kim, C. S. (2019) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198791768.013.11 · Cited by 1
1 Using Decision Sciences Concepts to Think Clearly About Policy Decisions By
Keeney, R. L., Writing, B., & Kunreuther, H. (2008) · Cited by 1
Baghal, A., & Tarek, M. (2012) · Cited by 1
이종택, & Won, H. K. (2007) · 한국심리학회지 사회및성격 · doi:10.21193/kjspp.2007.21.1.004 · Cited by 1
Pfister, H. R., Jungermann, H., & Fischer, K. (2016) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-3-662-53038-2_5 · Cited by 1
Cummins, C., & Katsos, N. (2019) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198791768.013.33 · Cited by 2
Baghal, T. A. (2014) · Journal of Methods and Measurement in the Social Sciences · doi:10.2458/azu_jmmss.v5i2.18476 · Cited by 1
Friedman, J. A., & Zeckhauser, R. (2024) · Foreign Policy Analysis · doi:10.1093/fpa/orae015 · Cited by 1
Decision‐making for others: Ambiguity attitudes
Mercer, A. C., Póvoa, Â. C. S., & Pech, W. (2024) · Managerial and Decision Economics · doi:10.1002/mde.4321 · Cited by 1
Verbal Expressions of Risk Communication: A Case Study After the 3.11 Crisis
Okamoto, S., & Kikkawa, T. (2014) · Journal of Disaster Research · doi:10.20965/jdr.2014.p0644 · Cited by 1
Measuring Subjective Probability by Means of Verval Probability Judgment
MASUDA, N., & SHIGEMATSU, K. (1996) · Journal of Japan Society for Fuzzy Theory and Intelligent Informatics · doi:10.3156/jfuzzy.8.6_84 · Cited by 1
Thalmann, A. T. (2006) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-044452806-3/50016-0 · Cited by 1
Nouwen, R., Alexandropoulou, S., & McNabb, Y. (2019) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198791768.013.15 · Cited by 1
Elicitation of Natural Language Representations of Uncertainty Using Computer Technology
Tonn, B. E., Goeltz, R. T., & Travis, C. B. (1991) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-1-4899-0730-1_16 · Cited by 1
Toward a Universal Translator of Verbal Probabilities
Karelitz, T. M., Dhami, M. K., Budescu, D. V., & Wallsten, T. S. (2002) · Cited by 1
Uncertainty in the physical, social, and virtual worlds
Smithson, M. J. (2002) · Annual Meeting of the North American Fuzzy Information Processing Society (NAFIPS) · doi:10.1109/nafips.2000.877374 · Cited by 1
How Much More Probable is "Much More Probable"? Verbal Expressions for Probability UpdatesPreprint
Elsaesser, C., & Henrion, M. (2013) · arXiv (Cornell University) · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1304.1501 · Cited by 1
Gilovich, T. D., Griffin, D., & Kahneman, D. (2002) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511808098.045 · Cited by 1
Analysis of occupational hazards using fault trees
Marx, M., Knetsch, T., & Hauptmanns, U. (2004) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-0-85729-410-4_9 · Cited by 1
Risk Talk : On Communicating Benefits and Harms in Health Care
Hoffmann, M. (2006) · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) · Cited by 1
Howell, D. R. (2009) · RAND Corporation eBooks · doi:10.7249/rgsd247 · Cited by 1
When Less Is More: Counterfactual Thinking and Satisfaction among Olympic Medalists
Medvec, V. H., Madey, S. F., & Gilovich, T. D. (2002) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/cbo9780511808098.037 · Cited by 1
Jenkins, S. C. (2020) · UCL Discovery (University College London) · Cited by 1
The Measurement of Expectations
Curtin, R. T. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9780511791598.009 · Cited by 1
Park, K. F., & Shapira, Z. (2018) · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · doi:10.1057/978-1-137-00772-8_250 · Cited by 1
Negative Context Reduces the Discriminability of Verbal ProbabilitiesPreprint
Dhami, M. K., & Mandel, D. R. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/ma7rb · Cited by 1
Expert Opinion in SR 97 and the SKI/SSI Joint Review of SR 97
Hora, S. C. (2002) · Cited by 1
Medical Practice — Decision Making: A Logical Model
Moidu, K., Driankov, D., & Wigertz, O. B. (1988) · Lecture notes in medical informatics · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-48706-4_2 · Cited by 1
Handling Fuzziness in Knowledge-Based Systems
Nola, A. D., Sessa, S., Pedrycz, W., & Sanchez, É. (1989) · Springer eBooks · doi:10.1007/978-94-017-1650-5_11
Użycie skal lingwistycznych do opisu użyteczności w procesie analizy preferencji
Brzostowski, J., & Wachowicz, T. (2012) · Studia Ekonomiczne / Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Katowicach
Human Genome Analysis, Genetic Counselling, and Ethics
CHADWICK, R. F., ten Have, H., Husted, J. H., Ngwena, C., Nørby, S., & Shickle, D. (1992) · Global Bioethics · doi:10.1080/11287462.1992.10800622
Jovanovic, A. S. (2002) · Annual Meeting of the North American Fuzzy Information Processing Society (NAFIPS) · doi:10.1109/isuma.1990.151258
Interpretive Error in Psychological Testing.
Hummel, T. J., & Lichtenberg, J. W. (1999)
RUM (Reasoning with Uncertainty Module) and RUMrunner (RUM’s Run Time System)
Bonissone, P. P. (1989) · Lecture notes in engineering · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-83991-7_8
Bedell, B. P. (1997) · Journal of International Crisis and Risk Communication Research
Factors that Affect Interpretation of the Overall Meaning of Paired Japanese Probability Expressions
Fujii, T. (2005) · Kodo Keiryogaku (The Japanese Journal of Behaviormetrics) · doi:10.2333/jbhmk.32.109
A COMMENT ON MILAN ZELENY´'S “COGNITIVE EQUILIBRIUM”
Smithson, M. J. (1991) · International Journal of General Systems · doi:10.1080/03081079108935187
Verbal probability and expected frequency expressions used in relation to immunisation
Harding, C. M. (1983) · Health Education Journal · doi:10.1177/001789698304200407
A Structured Approach for Evaluating ICT Contributions to Development
Kivunike, F. N. (2015) · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
Ocular Discomfort Upon Tear Drying
Varikooty, J. P. (2003) · UWSpace (University of Waterloo)
DAVIES, M. K., & Hollman, A. (2001) · Heart · doi:10.1136/heart.86.6.594
Harris, A. J. L., & Corner, A. (2011)
Using Expert Judgement Methodology to Address Uncertainty in Launch Vehicle Weight Estimates
Monroe, R., Lepsch, R. A., & Unal, R. (2002) · AIAA/ISSMO Multidisciplinary Analysis and Optimization Conference (MAO) · doi:10.2514/6.2002-5489
A theoretically and empirical study of adjusting anticipated travel times to a new environment
Fujii, S., Nakano, M., Kitamura, R., & Sugiyama, M. (2000) · INFRASTRUCTURE PLANNING REVIEW · doi:10.2208/journalip.17.589
The Luxuriant Language of Diagnosis
Kassirer, J. P., & Kopelman, R. I. (1989) · Hospital Practice · doi:10.1080/21548331.1989.11703742
A Conversion of Qualitative Probabilistic Expressions into Numerical Probabilities in Korean
Park, K. S., Shin, S., & 이재인 (2006) · Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea · doi:10.5143/jesk.2006.25.4.041
Ward, W. D. (1988) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-059353-8.50013-5
Baskerville, R. F., Xue, Q., & Rhys, H. (2016) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.2850191
Decision Making and Behavioral Decision Theory
Takemura, K. (2005) · Journal of Japan Society for Fuzzy Theory and Intelligent Informatics · doi:10.3156/jsoft.17.646
Stålnacke, O. (2017) · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology)
Jovanovic, A. S. (1989) · Lecture notes in engineering · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-83991-7_24
Xiang, M. (2019) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198791768.013.31
Syrett, K. (2019) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198791768.013.34
Kwantifi ceren van waarschijnlijkheid voor de waardering van onzekere belastingposities
Hafkenscheid, R. (2009) · Maandblad Voor Accountancy en Bedrijfseconomie · doi:10.5117/mab.83.16925
Ambiguity in Cochrane consumer synopses: black, white, grey or taken as read?
Allen, C., Smith, A. C., & Thornton, N. (2001) · BMC News and views · doi:10.1186/2048-4623-1-s3-pa014
Expectations of Macroeconomic Cycles
Curtin, R. T. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9780511791598.008
Private and Public Sources of Economic Information
Curtin, R. T. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9780511791598.004
Investigations of Probabilistic Inference
Hamm, R. M. (1990) · doi:10.21236/ada226882
The inference-driven model of quantifier focus
Dawydiak, E. J. (2001) · Enlighten: Theses (The University of Glasgow)
UK and US policies for communicating probability in intelligence analysis: A reviewPreprint
Dhami, M. K., & Mandel, D. R. (2020) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/kuyhb
Processing Economic Information
Curtin, R. T. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9780511791598.005
The Construction of Expectations
Curtin, R. T. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9780511791598.007
Tailored Economic Expectations
Curtin, R. T. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9780511791598.010
LaCour, M. (2021) · ThinkTech (Texas Tech University)
Expectations and the Macroeconomy
Curtin, R. T. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9780511791598.002
Curtin, R. T. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9780511791598.011
Curtin, R. T. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9780511791598.001
Wülferth, H. (2013) · Contributions to management science · doi:10.1007/978-3-642-35837-1_1
Conventional Theories of Expectations
Curtin, R. T. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9780511791598.003
(2014) · Wiley series in probability and statistics · doi:10.1002/9781118763117.refs
Affective Influences on Expectations
Curtin, R. T. (2019) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9780511791598.006
Measurement of Subjective Expectations for Economic Overview of Recycling
Soni, N. K. (2022) · International Journal of Advanced Research in Science Communication and Technology · doi:10.48175/ijarsct-2835
(2019) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-815823-4.09992-2
(1990) · Elsevier eBooks · doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-036763-7.50009-4
Metadata
- Authors
- Beyth‐Marom, R.
- Corresponding author
- Beyth‐Marom, Ruth
- Venue
- Journal of Forecasting
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 1982-07
- Volume
- 1
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 257-269
- ISSN
- 0277-6693 (ISSN-L)
- 1099-131X
- OpenAlex
- W2004776030
- Cited by
- 527
- References
- 9
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 8 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 14 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 63 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 11 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 11
- FWCI
- 6.32
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Forecasting (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Office of Naval Research
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › Management Science and Operations Research › Forecasting Techniques and Applications
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Categorization, perception, and language
- Keywords
- verbal probability expressions, probability communication, political forecasting, expert opinion, context effects
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review