Assessing Alignment and Stability of Feature Importance Explanations via Weight of Evidence
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Computer Science > Machine Learning
arXiv:2609.00090 (cs)
[Submitted on 31 Aug 2026]
Title:Assessing Alignment and Stability of Feature Importance Explanations via Weight of Evidence
Authors:Eddie Conti, Claudio Daka, Álvaro Parafita, Antonio L. Alfeo, Axel Brando, Mario G.C.A. Cimino
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Abstract:Feature importance Methods (FIMs) are widely used in Explainable AI to interpret model predictions, yet attribution scores alone often provide limited insight into the underlying reasoning process. In this work, we introduce a novel perspective by embedding FIMs within a hypothesis-testing framework based on Weight of Evidence (WoE). We quantify how strongly the observed evidence supports any given hypothesis on feature importance. The reference hypothesis can stem from domain knowledge, ground truth, or be derived from the FIM itself. This formulation enables a principled evaluation of FIMs, capturing both their alignment with prior knowledge and their variability. We further provide theoretical results linking WoE to attribution variance. Empirical results shows the applicability and flexibility of our strategy analyzing LIME and SHAP explanations in settings with different reference hypotheses. Overall, our framework offers a complementary tool for assessing FIMs through a contrastive, evidence-based lens.
| Comments: | Accepted at XKDD and Beyond 2026 Workshop, ECML-PKDD |
| Subjects: | Machine Learning (cs.LG); Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI) |
| Cite as: | arXiv:2609.00090 [cs.LG] |
| (or arXiv:2609.00090v1 [cs.LG] for this version) | |
| https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.00090
arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)
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View a PDF of the paper titled Assessing Alignment and Stability of Feature Importance Explanations via Weight of Evidence, by Eddie Conti and 5 other authors
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