A framework for comparing term association measures

The problem of choosing an association measure for some particular application is reviewed. Two methods are presented for treating various measures in a common framework—a parameterized model and a graphical interpretation of the measures. Some association measures which have been suggested to date are discussed in terms of this framework, and an example is chosen from the NASA vocabulary. Qualitative features of the list of associated terms are related to properties of the measure used, and it is suggested that this characterization can be useful in choosing which measure to use.