Mohammad Reza Keyvanpour; Zahra Karimi Zandian; Zahra Abdolhosseini
Volume 16, Issue 2 , July 2018
Abstract
Query expansion is a method for improving retrieval performance by supplementing an original query with additional terms. This process improves the quality of search engine results and helps users to find the required information. In the recent years, different methods have been proposed in this area. ...
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Query expansion is a method for improving retrieval performance by supplementing an original query with additional terms. This process improves the quality of search engine results and helps users to find the required information. In the recent years, different methods have been proposed in this area. In addition to such a variety of different approaches in this area and necessity of the study of their characteristics, the lack of a comprehensive classification based on candidate expansion terms extraction methods and also suitable and complete criteria to evaluate them, make the precise study, comparison and evaluation of methods for query expansion and choosing appropriate method based on need difficult for researchers. Therefore, in this paper a new useful framework is presented. In the proposed framework, in addition to the identification of three basic approaches based on the candidate expansion terms extraction methods for query expansion and expressing their properties, appropriate criteria for qualitative evaluation of these methods will be described. Next, the proposed approaches will be evaluated qualitatively based on these criteria. Using the systematic and structured framework proposed in this paper leads a useful platform for researchers to be provided for the comparative study of existing methods in the field, investigating their features specially their drawbacks to improve them and choosing appropriate method based on their needs.
Hoda Shaker; Mohammad Reza Farhadpoor; Fariba Nazari
Volume 15, Issue 2 , June 2017
Abstract
Expansion and reformulation of queries are among the most common strategies employed by users in retrieval of initial results to coordinate them with their needs. The present study examines the expansion and reformulation of queries and their impact on improving the precisionof the retrieval results.The ...
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Expansion and reformulation of queries are among the most common strategies employed by users in retrieval of initial results to coordinate them with their needs. The present study examines the expansion and reformulation of queries and their impact on improving the precisionof the retrieval results.The analytical survey method was used to evaluate the relationship between the variables. The study was conducted on the MA students of the Information Science and Knowledgein Islamic Azad University of Ahvaz, Khuzestan Science and Research Branch, who had the seminar course(n=28). The data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. The results showed the lack of enough time to review all the retrieved results as the most important reason for the expansion and reformulation of queries (mean = 4.66). In addition, the users reported different perceived usefulness of the expansion and reformulation tools for the retrieval results where they perceived the reformulation strategy more useful (mean =3.781). Furthermore, the precision of the initial results was significantly increased using the reformulation tools. The tools including limiting the search terms by the resource title, subject, year, and searching the initial results enhance the overall precision of the initial results. However, for the expansion tools, using these limiting approaches resulted in no significant difference between the precision of initial results and the final retrieval results. The results show that using the expansion and reformulation tools to correct the initial search may have different reasons. Moreover, the use of these tools affects the precision of searches.
