Thesis

Defining and measuring cost, effort, and load, within information seeking and retrieval

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Awarding institution
  • University of Strathclyde
Date of award
  • 2026
Thesis identifier
  • T17573
Person Identifier (Local)
  • 202059659
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Abstract
  • During the Information Seeking and Retrieval (ISR) process, users engage in interactions with search systems, submitting queries, retrieving documents, and examining results. These interactions place varying demands on users’ internal and external resources. In ISR research, cost, effort, and load (CEL) are frequently invoked to explain and evaluate user behaviour and search experiences. However, the field lacks universally accepted definitions and standardised measurement methods, creating conceptual ambiguity and challenges in interpreting and comparing findings. This doctoral research addresses these challenges through four novel contributions. First, a working definition framework provides operational definitions for CEL and a conceptual structure that researchers can adopt and refine, fostering a unified understanding within ISR. Second, a multi-stage relevance judgement model, grounded in existing theory, structures the document judgement task used in the empirical work and allows for the evaluation of user effort and load. Third, empirical studies characterise user effort and load between task stages, offering insights into how different judgement decisions influence these constructs. Finally, multiple measures of effort and load are evaluated to assess validity, triangulate findings, and examine their temporal dynamics. Together, these contributions provide conceptual clarity and methodological guidance for ISR research, advancing understanding of CEL and offering empirically grounded approaches to modelling user behaviour during relevance judgement tasks.
Advisor / supervisor
  • Halvey, Martin
  • Ruthven, Ian, 1968-
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