A Logic-Based Approach for Query Refinement

In this paper we present a novel approach for the refinement of relational queries that enables so-called step-by-step refinement of a user´s query. The approach is based on discovering causal relationships between queries regarding the inclusion relation between the answers of these queries. We define a formal model for these query-answering pairs and use methods from inductive logic programming for the efficient calculation of a (lattice) order between them. The approach is very suitable for modelling information retrieval tasks based on the database repositories, like searching product catalogues.