Methods of assessing the database queries’ results relevance

Abstract

Increase in the volume of stored and processed information imposes special requirements to methods and tools for information search and processing. One of the indicators characterizing the quality of information retrieval is the query results relevance. This article purpose is to develop a methodology to quantify the relevance of query results. The query results’ relevance evaluation is important for the correct information retrieval. The presented method identifies and evaluates the query results for the three types of found object compliance to the request. For objects that do not completely correspond to the required specification, it is proposed to calculate the diversity factor between the found object and the query, as in some cases it is impossible to find an object that would at least partially satisfy the requirements. The presented method uses fuzzy sets to describe objects and queries to databases in order to facilitate objects’ searching and grouping by temporal characteristics, as well as allows to evaluate quantitatively the query results’ relevance for the correct information retrieval assessing.