The Effects of Manipulating Task Determinability on Search Behaviors and Outcomes
The Effects of Manipulating Task Determinability on Search Behaviors and Outcomes
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操纵任务可确定性对搜索行为和结果的影响
DOI：
10.1145/3209978.3210047
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发表时间：
2018
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Bogeum Choi
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Robert G. Capra;Jaime Arguello;H. O'Brien;Yuan Li;Bogeum Choi
IR研究的一个重要领域涉及了解任务特征如何影响搜索行为和结果。任务复杂性是一个受到相当关注的特征。任务复杂性的一种观点是通过先验确定性的视角——即搜索者对任务结果和过程的不确定性水平。在这项工作中，我们操纵了比较任务的可确定性。我们的任务操作涉及通过指定作为任务一部分的精确项目和/或精确（客观或主观）维度来修改任务的范围。本文报告了一项主题内研究（N=144），我们调查了我们的任务操作如何影响参与者的感知、参与水平、搜索努力和搜索策略的选择。我们的研究结果表明，任务范围、可确定性和不同的结果测量之间存在复杂的关系。我们最开放的任务被认为具有低确定性（高不确定性），但由于满意度，对参与者来说是最不具挑战性的。此外，通过指定项目来缩小任务范围的效果与指定维度的效果不同。指定项目增加了任务的确定性（降低了不确定性），使任务更容易，而指定维度没有增加任务的确定性，反而使任务更具挑战性。对参与者查询的定性分析表明，搜索维度比搜索项目更具挑战性。最后，我们观察到客观维度和主观维度之间的细微差异。我们讨论了设计IIR研究和支持用户的工具的含义。
An important area of IR research involves understanding how task characteristics influence search behaviors and outcomes. Task complexity is one characteristic that has received considerable attention. One view of task complexity is through the lens of a priori determinability -- the level of uncertainty about task outcomes and processes experienced by the searcher. In this work, we manipulated the determinability of comparative tasks. Our task manipulation involved modifying the scope of the task by specifying exact items and/or exact (objective or subjective) dimensions to consider as part of the task. This paper reports on a within-subject study (N=144) where we investigated how our task manipulation influenced participants' perceptions, levels of engagement, search effort, and choice of search strategies. Our results suggest a complex relationship between task scope, determinability, and different outcome measures. Our most open-ended tasks were perceived to have low determinability (high uncertainty), but were the least challenging for participants due to satisficing. Furthermore, narrowing the scope of tasks by specifying items had a different effect than by specifying dimensions. Specifying items increased the task determinability (lower uncertainty) and made the task easier, while specifying dimensions did not increase the task determinability and made the task more challenging. A qualitative analysis of participants' queries suggests that searching for dimensions is more challenging than for items. Finally, we observed subtle differences between objective and subjective dimensions. We discuss implications for the design of IIR studies and tools to support users.