Experimental components for the evaluation of interactive information retrieval systems

TLDR

The study aims to evaluate whether simulated work‑task situations can replace real information needs in interactive IR system evaluation, by developing a realistic experimental setting and testing the hypothesis that no behavioral difference exists. The experimental framework uses real users, dynamic individual information needs, and multidimensional relevance judgments, centered on a simulated work‑task situation that triggers dynamic needs, to compare search behavior under real versus simulated needs. The meta‑evaluation shows that simulated work‑task situations are effective for IIR evaluation, that tailoring them to test‑person groups motivates users, and that varying semantic openness does not affect search behavior.

Abstract

This paper presents a set of basic components which constitutes the experimental setting intended for the evaluation of interactive information retrieval (IIR) systems, the aim of which is to facilitate evaluation of IIR systems in a way which is as close as possible to realistic IR processes. The experimental setting consists of three components: (1) the involvement of potential users as test persons; (2) the application of dynamic and individual information needs; and (3) the use of multidimensional and dynamic relevance judgements. Hidden under the information need component is the essential central sub‐component, the simulated work task situation, the tool that triggers the (simulated) dynamic information needs. This paper also reports on the empirical findings of the metaevaluation of the application of this sub‐component, the purpose of which is to discover whether the application of simulated work task situations to future evaluation of IIR systems can be recommended. Investigations are carried out to determine whether any search behavioural differences exist between test persons‘ treatment of their own real information needs versus simulated information needs. The hypothesis is that if no difference exists one can correctly substitute real information needs with simulated information needs through the application of simulated work task situations. The empirical results of the meta‐evaluation provide positive evidence for the application of simulated work task situations to the evaluation of IIR systems. The results also indicate that tailoring work task situations to the group of test persons is important in motivating them. Furthermore, the results of the evaluation show that different versions of semantic openness of the simulated situations make no difference to the test persons’ search treatment.