Formalizing and validating the web quality model for web source quality evaluation

The proposed web quality model (WebQM) is formalized with ISO/IEC Z language and empirically studied based on the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach. By building the sample data set and constructing the structure equation model, the goodness-of-fit of WebQM is analyzed based on generalized least square method. A web source quality evaluation process based on validated WebQM is implemented and verified as more objective and credible, because the weights of quality criteria are automatically produced in the validation procedure, which avoids the subjective weight assignment in some classic assessment approaches. The model validation and implemented evaluation show that WebQM fits the real web source quality data and is feasible, reliable, and effective for web source quality evaluation.