A systematic review of cost, effort, and load research in information search and retrieval, 1972-2020

McGregor, Molly and Azzopardi, Leif and Halvey, Martin (2023) A systematic review of cost, effort, and load research in information search and retrieval, 1972-2020. ACM Transactions on Information Systems, 42 (1). pp. 1-39. 2. ISSN 1046-8188 (https://doi.org/10.1145/3583069)

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Abstract

During the information search and retrieval (ISR) process, user-system interactions such as submitting queries, examining results, and engaging with information impose some degree of demand on the user’s resources. Within ISR, these demands are well recognised, and numerous studies have demonstrated that the cost, effort, and load (CEL) experienced during the search process are affected by a variety of factors. Despite this recognition, there is no universally accepted definition of the constructs of CEL within the field of ISR. Ultimately, this has led to problems with how these constructs have been interpreted and subsequently measured. This systematic review contributes a synthesis of literature, summarising key findings relating to how researchers have been defining and measuring CEL within ISR over the past 50 years. After manually screening 1,109 articles, we detailed and analysed 91 articles which examine CEL within ISR. The discussion focuses on comparing the similarities and differences between CEL definitions and measures before identifying the limitations of the current state of the nomenclature. Opportunities for future research are also identified. Going forward, we propose a CEL taxonomy that integrates the relationships between CEL and their related constructs, which will help focus and disambiguate future research in this important area.

  • Item type:Article
    ID code:83960
    Dates:
    Date
    Event
    18 August 2023
    Published
    9 February 2023
    Published Online
    25 January 2023
    Accepted
    Notes:© ACM 2023. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive Version of Record was published in McGregor, M., Azzopardi, L., & Halvey, M. (2023). A systematic review of cost, effort, and load research in information search and retrieval, 1972-2020. ACM Transactions on Information Systems. https://doi.org/10.1145/3583069
    Subjects:Science > Mathematics > Electronic computers. Computer science > Other topics, A-Z > Human-computer interaction
    Department:Faculty of Science > Computer and Information Sciences
    Depositing user: Pure Administrator
    Date deposited:31 Jan 2023 16:45
    Last modified:18 Apr 2024 00:34
    Related URLs:
    URI:https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/id/eprint/83960
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