Using a Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process to evaluate Chinese search engines. A case study on Chinese search engines
| Published date | 29 November 2011 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14684521111193210 |
| Pages | 942-956 |
| Date | 29 November 2011 |
| Author | Qinghua Zhu,Jia Tina Du,Fei Meng,Kewen Wu,Xiaoling Sun |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Using a Delphi method and the
analytic hierarchy process to
evaluate Chinese search engines
A case study on Chinese search engines
Qinghua Zhu
Department of Information Management, Nanjing University, Nanjing,
People’s Republic of China
Jia Tina Du
School of Computer and Information Science, University of South Australia,
Adelaide, Australia
Fei Meng and Kewen Wu
Department of Information Management, Nanjing University, Nanjing,
People’s Republic of China, and
Xiaoling Sun
School of Management and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing,
People’s Republic of China
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to develop an evaluation criteria system for search engines
using the Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process, and to conduct an empirical study on
Chinese search engines to verify it. This is because the evaluation criteria in current research rarely
considers expert opinions and experience, and seldom calculates the weight of each criterion by
quantitative methods.
Design/methodology/approach – Expert investigation of the web-based Delphi method was
employed to develop the evaluation criteria, and the analytic hierarchy process based on an
exponential scale was adopted to calculate the weight of each criterion. An empirical study was
designed to test the evaluation criteria system. A total of 12 study participants were invited to evaluate
six popular Chinese search engines by means of e-mail questionnaires. All the calculation processes
were executed automatically by Java programming.
Findings – The indexing structure and search method were the core criteria for evaluating the search
engines. Google (using simplified Chinese characters) achieved the best performance among the six
typical Chinese search engines.
Originality/value – The criteria for search engine evaluation were determined and weighted by the
web-based Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process based on an exponential scale.
Keywords Searchengines, Delphimethod, Analytical hierarchyprocess, Chinesepeople, User interfaces,
Information searches
Paper type Research paper
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1468-4527.htm
This research project was supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China
(No. 04BTQ023). The authors thank the experts and participants for their assistance, and the
anonymous reviewers for their valuable suggestions.
OIR
35,6
942
Received 15 September 2010
Accepted 27 March 2011
Online Information Review
Vol. 35 No. 6, 2011
pp. 942-956
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1468-4527
DOI 10.1108/14684521111193210
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