Measuring Web Searching Task Efficiency : An Imprecise Data Envelopment Analysis Approach

In this paper we propose an application of Imprecise Data Envelopment Analysis model (IDEA) in the setting of measuring web searching task efficiency. The presented approach had been applied to a sample of 337 students within two years, conducting a web-searching experiment consisting of domain-specific and domain-neutral search tasks in both single and multiple correct answer scenarios. We discuss the benefits of using DEA as a performance measure in experiments involving the respondent in performing multiple tasks, as well as the extension to imprecise DEA to account for the ordinal nature of some of the results. Finally, we present some preliminary results on efficiency of web searching