Spatialization of web sites using a weighted frequency model of navigation data

  • Authors:

  • René F. Reitsma;Lehana Thabane;J. Michael B. MacLeod

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Accounting, Finance, and Information Management, Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon;Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada;Department of Information Systems, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada

  • Venue:
  • Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology
  • Year:
  • 2004

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Abstract

A common problem in the spatialization of information systems is the determination of geometry; i.e., dimensionality and metric. Such geometry is either chosen a priori or is inferred a posteriori from secondary data. Recent work emphasizes the use of geometric information latent in a system's navigational record. Resolving this information from its noisy background, however, requires an unambiguous criterion of selection. In this paper we use a previously published, statistical method for resolving a Web-based information system's geometry from navigational data. However, because of the method's (theoretical) sensitivity to data selection, a weighted frequency correction based on empirical probability distributions is applied. The effect of this correction on the Web-space geometry is investigated. Results indicate that the inferred geometry is robust; i.e., it does not significantly change under this probabilistic correction.