Component-based Analysis of Dynamic Search Performance

2022 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-47
Author(s):  
Ameer Albahem ◽  
Damiano Spina ◽  
Falk Scholer ◽  
Lawrence Cavedon

In many search scenarios, such as exploratory, comparative, or survey-oriented search, users interact with dynamic search systems to satisfy multi-aspect information needs. These systems utilize different dynamic approaches that exploit various user feedback granularity types. Although studies have provided insights about the role of many components of these systems, they used black-box and isolated experimental setups. Therefore, the effects of these components or their interactions are still not well understood. We address this by following a methodology based on Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). We built a Grid Of Points that consists of systems based on different ways to instantiate three components: initial rankers, dynamic rerankers, and user feedback granularity. Using evaluation scores based on the TREC Dynamic Domain collections, we built several ANOVA models to estimate the effects. We found that (i) although all components significantly affect search effectiveness, the initial ranker has the largest effective size, (ii) the effect sizes of these components vary based on the length of the search session and the used effectiveness metric, and (iii) initial rankers and dynamic rerankers have more prominent effects than user feedback granularity. To improve effectiveness, we recommend improving the quality of initial rankers and dynamic rerankers. This does not require eliciting detailed user feedback, which might be expensive or invasive.

Author(s):  
Dharambeer Singh

Digital libraries, designed to serve people and their information needs in the same way as traditional libraries, present distinct advantages over brick and mortar facilities: elimination of physical boundaries, round-the-clock access to information, multiple access points, networking abilities, and extended search functions. As a result, they should be especially well-suited for the disables. However, minorities, those affected by lower income and education status, persons living in rural areas, the physically challanged, and developing countries as a whole consistently suffer from a lack of accessibility to digital libraries. This paper evaluates the effectiveness and relevance of digital libraries currently in place and discusses what could and should be done to improve accessibility to digital libraries for under-graduate students.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-360
Author(s):  
Christian Linder ◽  
Siavash Farahbakhsh

ABSTRACTDespite the extensive literature on what questionable research practices (QRPs) are and how to measure them, the normative underpinnings of such practices have remained less explored. QRPs often fall into a grey area of justifiable and unjustifiable practices. Where to precisely draw the line between such practices challenges individual scholars and this harms science. We investigate QRPs from a normative perspective using the theory of communicative action. We highlight the role of the collective in assessing individual behaviours. Our contribution is a framework that allows identification of when particular actions cross over from acceptable to unacceptable practice. Thus, this article provides grounds for developing scientific standards to raise the quality of scientific research.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malte Elson

Research synthesis is based on the assumption that when the same association between constructs is observed repeatedly in a field, the relationship is probably real, even if its exact magnitude can be debated. Yet this probability is not only a function of recurring results, but also of the quality and consistency in the empirical procedures that produced those results and that any meta-analysis necessarily inherits. Standardized protocols in data collection, analysis, and interpretation are important empirical properties, and a healthy sign of a discipline's maturity.This manuscript proposes that meta-analyses as typically applied in psychology benefit from complementing their aggregates of observed effect sizes by systematically examining the standardization of methodology that deterministically produced them. Potential units of analyses are described and two examples are offered to illustrate the benefits of such efforts. Ideally, this synergetic approach emphasizes the role of methods in advancing theory by improving the quality of meta-analytic inferences.


2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma King

AbstractThe research identifies and evaluates the content and readability of Websites of all radiotherapy departments that provide a Website. As more patients are being referred for radiotherapy treatment each year, the information needs of the public on this subject is growing. Fifty-two per cent of radiotherapy departments within the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland were identified as providing a Website. These Websites were evaluated, over a period of 2 weeks, using an adapted Website evaluation tool. Five criteria – content, authority, navigation, design and technical aspects – were identified as important aspects of a Website. For each criterion a number of statements were listed and using a Likert scale were marked. Flesch–Kincaid readability tests were used to analyse the readability level of the Websites. Data analysis resulted in the ranking of the Websites. Evaluation scores varied greatly and the readability tests showed 92% of the Websites were written at a level too high for the public. This shows the varying quality of radiotherapy department Websites with scores ranging from 48 to 115, and the varying readability level of these Websites. The research makes suggestions for the improvement of radiotherapy department Websites including the provision of a dedicated Website team within the department, educated in Website design.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-112
Author(s):  
Rita Peres ◽  
Mariana Silva

Abstract The aim of this research is to understand the role played by social media influencers in consumers’ decision-making processes concerning hotels. To achieve this general objective, the following specific aims were defined: (1) to understand the profile of the micro-influencers that share user generated content (UGC) about hotels and the main networks within which they operate; to this end, a study was made by means of interviews to ascertain the profiles of 16 unpaid micro-influencers who share content about Portuguese hotels, and (2) to adopt the information acceptance model (IACM) put forward by Erkan and Evans (2016), to examine the influence of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) in social media on cosumer's behaviour intention in hotel industry, based on the profile of 166 consumers who follow these micro-influencers. Findings suggest that micro-influencers play a significant role in terms of influencing consumer purchase decision-making in the hospitality area; about 79% of surveyed consumers who follow micro-influencers’ content feel their choice is influenced and consider that the contents shared enable consumers to form an idea of what their stay will be like, due to some of the micro-influencers’ characteristics. The adoption of the IACM model demonstrates that the credibility of eWOM information positively affects the usefulness of the information. However, the quality of eWOM information, needs of eWOM information, and attitudes toward eWOM have a medium effect on the usefulness of eWOM information, but also in the attitudes toward eWOM and usefulness of eWOM in the adoption of eWOM information. The followers’ behavioural intentions are strongly explained by their attitudes toward eWOM information and adoption of eWOM information.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Malte Elson

Research synthesis is based on the assumption that when the same association between constructs is observed repeatedly in a field, the relationship is probably real, even if its exact magnitude can be debated. Yet this probability is not only a function of recurring results, but also of the quality and consistency in the empirical procedures that produced those results and that any meta-analysis necessarily inherits. Standardized protocols in data collection, analysis, and interpretation are important empirical properties, and a healthy sign of a discipline's maturity.This manuscript proposes that meta-analyses as typically applied in psychology benefit from complementing their aggregates of observed effect sizes by systematically examining the standardization of methodology that deterministically produced them. Potential units of analyses are described and two examples are offered to illustrate the benefits of such efforts. Ideally, this synergetic approach emphasizes the role of methods in advancing theory by improving the quality of meta-analytic inferences.


2013 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Eschen ◽  
Franzisca Zehnder ◽  
Mike Martin

This article introduces Cognitive Health Counseling 40+ (CH.CO40+), an individualized intervention that is conceptually based on the orchestration model of quality-of-life management ( Martin & Kliegel, 2010 ) and aims at improving satisfaction with cognitive health in adults aged 40 years and older. We describe the theoretically deduced characteristics of CH.CO40+, its target group, its multifactorial nature, its individualization, the application of subjective and objective measures, the role of participants as agents of change, and the rationale for choosing participants’ satisfaction with their cognitive health as main outcome variable. A pilot phase with 15 middle-aged and six older adults suggests that CH.CO40+ attracts, and may be particularly suitable for, subjective memory complainers. Implications of the pilot data for the further development of the intervention are discussed.


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