Distributed Performance Analysis on the Internet Using a Centric Database.

In many areas of life it is useful to be able to compare one's own performance to some general benchmark data. The Internet provides a way of realizing such a comparison so that the original database can be hidden from users by locating it in a server computer and users can test their individual data in a distributed manner. An interactive and graphical user interface can be implemented with the tools of the World-Wide Web (WWW). We introduce a World-wide INTEractive Regression Analysis (WINTERA) system that operates via the Internet. The system enables a user to carry out regression analysis with an original database and evaluate the performance of the data vector of her or his own. There are two kinds of users in the system. Data suppliers enter their observation matrices to form databases. Ordinary users can evaluate observations of their own with respect to existing databases. They can also suggest their observations to be included in the databases. the data supplier decides whether (s)he accepts or rejects the information. This means that the whole database is accessible only to the data supplier. In any case, ordinary users receive information about their performance.