Dissertation Proposal - Amifa Raj

Fairness in Ranking in Information Access Systems

Presented by Amifa Raj – Computer Science emphasis

Hybrid Presentation – CCP 352 or via Zoom

Abstract

Information access systems, such as search engines and recommender systems, often display results in a sorted ranked list based on their relevance. The fairness of these ranked lists has received attention as an important evaluation criteria along with traditional metrics such as utility or accuracy. Fairness broadly involves both provider and consumer side fairness at both group and individual levels. Several fair ranking metrics have been proposed to measure group fairness for providers based on various “sensitive attributes”. These metrics differ in their fairness goal, assumptions, and implementations. Although there are several fair ranking metrics to measure group fairness, multiple open challenges still exist in this area to consider.

In my thesis, I work on the area of fair ranking metrics for provider-side group fairness. I am interested in understanding the fairness concepts and practical applications of these metrics to identify their strengths and limitations to aid researchers and practitioners by pointing out the gaps. Moreover, I will contribute to this research area by focusing on some of the limitations regarding various browsing models.

Committee

Dr. Michael Ekstrand (Chair), Dr. Sole Pera, Dr. Casey Kennington, Dr. Edoardo Serra