arXiv:2509.22983cs.CL2025-09被引 4

对比表格结构对问答模型性能的影响,发现表示方式决定效果。

Same Content, Different Representations: A Controlled Study for Table QA

  • 固定内容,只变表格结构,做受控实验
  • 大表和复杂查询下,不同方法表现差异显著
  • 混合方法在噪声数据中表现最好,适合真实场景

现实中的表格问答需处理结构化数据库和含文本字段的半结构化表格。现有基准依赖固定数据格式,未系统考察表示方式对模型性能的影响。本文首次通过控制实验,保持内容一致而改变表格结构。利用文字生成管道创建成对的结构化与半结构化表格,实现不同建模范式间的直接比较。为支持深入分析,提出 RePairTQA 诊断基准,包含表格大小、连接需求、查询复杂度和模式质量等划分。实验显示稳定权衡:基于 SQL 的方法在结构化输入上准确率高,但在半结构化数据上下降;大模型具备灵活性但精度降低;混合方法在噪声模式下表现均衡。这些影响随表格增大和查询复杂度提升而加剧。最终,无单一方法在所有条件下最优,凸显表示方式在表格问答中的核心作用。研究结果为模型选型与设计提供可操作洞见,推动更鲁棒的混合方法发展以适应多样真实数据格式。

原文摘要 · Abstract (English)

Table Question Answering (Table QA) in real-world settings must operate over both structured databases and semi-structured tables containing textual fields. However, existing benchmarks are tied to fixed data formats and have not systematically examined how representation itself affects model performance. We present the first controlled study that isolates the role of table representation by holding content constant while varying structure. Using a verbalization pipeline, we generate paired structured and semi-structured tables, enabling direct comparisons across modeling paradigms. To support detailed analysis, we introduce RePairTQA, a diagnostic benchmark with splits along table size, join requirements, query complexity, and schema quality. Our experiments reveal consistent trade-offs: SQL-based methods achieve high accuracy on structured inputs but degrade on semi-structured data, LLMs exhibit flexibility but reduced precision, and hybrid approaches strike a balance, particularly under noisy schemas. These effects intensify with larger tables and more complex queries. Ultimately, no single method excels across all conditions, and we highlight the central role of representation in shaping Table QA performance. Our findings provide actionable insights for model selection and design, paving the way for more robust hybrid approaches suited for diverse real-world data formats.

表格问答模型比较数据表示

Thank you to arXiv for use of its open access interoperability. PaperDance 不是 arXiv 官方产品;中文卡片由大模型生成,请以原文为准。