Patterns of gender-specializing query reformulation

Users of search systems often reformulate their queries by adding query terms to reflect their evolving information need or to more precisely express their information need when the system fails to surface relevant content. Analyzing these query reformulations can inform us about both system and user behavior. In this work, we study a special category of query reformulations that involve specifying demographic group attributes, such as gender, as part of the reformulated query (e.g., "olympic 2021 soccer results" to "olympic 2021 women's soccer results"). There are many ways a query, the search results, and a demographic attribute such as gender may relate, leading us to hypothesize different causes for these reformulation patterns, such as under-representation on the original result page or based on the linguistic theory of markedness. This paper reports on an observational study of gender-specializing query reformulations -- their contexts and effects -- as a lens on the relationship between system results and gender, based on large-scale search log data from Bing. We find that these reformulations sometimes correct for and other times reinforce gender representation on the original result page, but typically yield better access to the ultimately-selected results. The prevalence of these reformulations -- and which gender they skew towards -- differ by topical context. However, we do not find evidence that either group under-representation or markedness alone adequately explains these reformulations. We hope that future research will use such reformulations as a probe for deeper investigation into gender (and other demographic) representation on the search result page

Deriving query suggestions for site search

Modern search engines have been moving away from simplistic interfaces that aimed at satisfying a user's need with a single-shot query. Interactive features are now integral parts of web search engines. However, generating good query modification suggestions remains a challenging issue. Query log analysis is one of the major strands of work in this direction. Although much research has been performed on query logs collected on the web as a whole, query log analysis to enhance search on smaller and more focused collections has attracted less attention, despite its increasing practical importance. In this article, we report on a systematic study of different query modification methods applied to a substantial query log collected on a local website that already uses an interactive search engine. We conducted experiments in which we asked users to assess the relevance of potential query modification suggestions that have been constructed using a range of log analysis methods and different baseline approaches. The experimental results demonstrate the usefulness of log analysis to extract query modification suggestions. Furthermore, our experiments demonstrate that a more fine-grained approach than grouping search requests into sessions allows for extraction of better refinement terms from query log files. © 2013 ASIS&T

How does Cognitive Ability impact the use of Query Reformulation Moves?

People have different mental strengths and weakness, which can be measured according to cognitive ability. Learning about strengths and preferences in terms of search behavior, and looking for patterns between behaviors and cognitive abilities, creates the opportunity to make search tools and systems more effectively meet user needs and preferences. While we know that different cognitive abilities exist, and that people form and reform search queries in a variety of ways, we do not know how these two elements interact, or if the interaction is predictable or significant. This paper performs secondary analysis of data collected during a study of cognitive ability, adding in the element of query reformulation moves. It assesses the effect of these cognitive abilities on study participants' search formulation behaviors. Analysis showed that the most common search move was adding a concept to a query, followed by deleting concepts and manipulating search terms. Of the cognitive abilities, the only statistically significant differences between high and low groups were found in the visualization ability. Those in the high skill group made significantly more moves, and significantly more term manipulation moves, than their low skill counterparts.Master of Science in Information Scienc

The Search as Learning Spaceship: Toward a Comprehensive Model of Psychological and Technological Facets of Search as Learning

Using a Web search engine is one of today’s most frequent activities. Exploratory search activities which are carried out in order to gain knowledge are conceptualized and denoted as Search as Learning (SAL). In this paper, we introduce a novel framework model which incorporates the perspective of both psychology and computer science to describe the search as learning process by reviewing recent literature. The main entities of the model are the learner who is surrounded by a specific learning context, the interface that mediates between the learner and the information environment, the information retrieval (IR) backend which manages the processes between the interface and the set of Web resources, that is, the collective Web knowledge represented in resources of different modalities. At first, we provide an overview of the current state of the art with regard to the five main entities of our model, before we outline areas of future research to improve our understanding of search as learning processes

The Search as Learning Spaceship: Toward a Comprehensive Model of Psychological and Technological Facets of Search as Learning

Using a Web search engine is one of today’s most frequent activities. Exploratory search activities which are carried out in order to gain knowledge are conceptualized and denoted as Search as Learning (SAL). In this paper, we introduce a novel framework model which incorporates the perspective of both psychology and computer science to describe the search as learning process by reviewing recent literature. The main entities of the model are the learner who is surrounded by a specific learning context, the interface that mediates between the learner and the information environment, the information retrieval (IR) backend which manages the processes between the interface and the set of Web resources, that is, the collective Web knowledge represented in resources of different modalities. At first, we provide an overview of the current state of the art with regard to the five main entities of our model, before we outline areas of future research to improve our understanding of search as learning processes. Copyright © 2022 von Hoyer, Hoppe, Kammerer, Otto, Pardi, Rokicki, Yu, Dietze, Ewerth and Holtz

Exploring the Role of Culture in Online Searching Behavior from a Cognitive Perspective

This research investigates differences in Web search behavior from a “cultural cognition” perspective, which was introduced by Nisbett and Norenzayan (2002). To explore the impact of culture and thinking styles on searching behavior is the objective. The overarching hypothesis is that there are cultural differences in cognitive styles and that these differences may lead into different searching behaviors. The findings help search engine designers provide an adaptive navigation support to users from different cultural backgrounds and cognitive styles. The fundamental research question underpinning this research becomes what are the relationships between users’ cognitive styles and cultural background, and their Web search behavior? The results of this doctoral study help with understanding how cognitive processes are modulated by cultures so as to give rise to cultural specific thinking and Web navigation styles. The assumption here is that differences in cognitive style will drive variations in Web search behavior based on national cultural orientation. To examine the research hypotheses, hundred and eleven research subjects are selected from three cultural groups: Americans, Iranians, and Chinese. The two independent factors that are studied in this experimental research are: cultural background and cognitive style. After answering a demographic questionnaire, the participants are given two types of task scenarios to perform on Google while two tracking applications (TechSmith Morae and MyGaze) record their mouse and eye movements. The users’ search behavior is studied through several measures of eye gaze, click behavior, and viewing pattern. By employing the Repeated Measures Analysis of Variance (RM ANOVA) test, the relationships between the independent variables and the search measurements are studied and analyzed using SAS statistical analysis application. This research was conducted in a controlled usability lab, and the participants were provided with a $10 incentive upon finishing the experiment. Even though the results from the statistical analysis did not show significant evidence to support variation in cognitive styles between the participating cultural groups, country of origin appeared to be a strong predictor of differences in the measurements of search behavior. Considering the research hypotheses and the results, we found that the Americans’ search behaviors tended to be more analytical and less explorative, whereas the Iranians and Chinese tended to engage in more exploratory behaviors

Oppilaiden internet-tiedonhakutaidot alakoulun viidennellä luokalla

Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on selvittää millaiset viidesluokkalaisten tiedonhakutaidot ovat. Tutkimuksessa tutkitaan, millaisia prosesseja viidesluokkalaisten tiedonhakuun sisältyy ja mitkä toiminnot johtavat onnistuneeseen tai epäonnistuneeseen tiedonhakuun. Yleinen käsitys on, että digitaalisena aikana syntyneet lapset ovat taitavia tekemään tiedonhakua, mutta useat tutkimukset ovat todistaneet tämän uskomuksen vääräksi. Tein kvalitatiivisen tutkimuksen kuvaillakseni kuinka viidesluokkalaiset lapset toimivat hakiessaan tietoa internetin hakukoneella. Tutkin 14:ta viidesluokkalaista oppilasta, joilla oli käytössä tiedonhakuun soveltuva iPad. Tutkimus toteutettiin videoimalla oppilaiden ruutua heidän vastatessa 12 kysymykseen, jotka vaativat internet-tiedonhakua. Tutkimustulokset teemoiteltiin oppilaiden oikeiden vastausten perusteella. Tutkimuksen tulosten mukaan oppilaiden tiedonhakujen määrä oli yhteydessä oikeisiin vastauksiin. Oppilaat käyttivät tiedonhauissa luonnollista kieltä eivätkä osanneet kriittisesti arvioida hakutuloksia tai löytynyttä tietoa. Oppilailla oli vaikeuksia luoda aiheista kokonaiskuvaa. Oppilaat tekivät useasti vain yhden haun kysymystä kohden etsiessään tietoa. Ikä ja kognitiivinen kehitys ovat todettu tärkeämmäksi tekijäksi kuin aikaisempi internetin käyttömäärä tiedonhaun onnistumisen kannalta Oppilaiden lähdekriittisyyden puute ja vajavaisuudet taidoissa muodostaa avainsanoja ovat huolestuttavia. Tulevaisuudessa olisi tärkeää antaa oppilaille enemmän hyvään tiedonhakuun tähtäävää opetusta sekä työkaluja muodostaa avainsanoja