| Author(s): |
Walter S. Liggett Jr; Paul D. Over; |
| Title: |
Understanding TREC Results - the Role of Statistics |
| Published: |
August 01, 2001 |
| Abstract: |
The challenge in empirical development of information retrieval systems at TREC is obtaining general conclusions from IR system responses to a sample of perhaps 50 topics, that is, 50 statements of information need. Treating such a sample as a simple random sample and using a univariate performance measure to describe each search result does not provide sufficient sensitivity for many purposes. In this paper, we contend that greater sensitivity can be gained through study of the natural language basis for the dependence of system performance on topic. |
| Conference: |
International Statistical Institute |
| Proceedings: |
Proceedings of the 53rd Session of the International Statistical Institute |
| Location: |
Seoul, KO |
| Dates: |
August 22-29, 2001 |
| Keywords: |
information retrieval;multidimensional scaling;query formation;rank correlation;search engines;system evaluation |
| Research Areas: |
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