Specificity

Synonyms

Coverage

Definition

Specificity is a relevance dimension that describes the extent to which a document part focuses on the topic of request. In the context of structured text (XML) retrieval, a document part corresponds to an XML element.

Specificity is defined as the length ratio, typically in number of characters, of contained relevant to irrelevant text in the document part. Different Specificity values can be associated to a document part. These values are drawn from the Specificity relevance scale, which has evolved from a discrete multi-graded relevance scale to a continuous relevance scale.

Key Points

The Initiative for the Evaluation of XML Retrieval (INEX) has defined Specificity as a relevance dimension that uses values from its own relevance scale to express the extent to which an XML element focuses on the topic of request. Since 2002, different names and relevance scales were used for Specificity at INEX. It initially evolved because the relevance dimension was...