All other algorithm scores have names that make sense, but the F-score is just "F". Was the letter chosen at random?
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5$\begingroup$ 'all other algorithm scores have names that make sense' what sense would you give to the 'z'-score ? the 't'-score ? $\endgroup$– user83346Commented Sep 1, 2017 at 16:48
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4$\begingroup$ It would be helpful if you made explicit in your question that you are asking for the F1 score, the harmonic mean of precision and recall, as people are answering about something completely different. $\endgroup$– mdeweyCommented Sep 1, 2017 at 17:06
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$\begingroup$ I think you mean F-measure and not score $\endgroup$– CybercopCommented Sep 1, 2017 at 19:50
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$\begingroup$ @Cybercop I think both names are in widespread use. For what it's worth, the wikipedia article is called "F1 score" but lists "F-score" and "F-measure" as alternative names. Obviously we can't do a google n-gram search to establish which is more common, since the result is contaminated by the other type of F-score, which makes this question text rather ambiguous until you look at the tags that have been used! $\endgroup$– SilverfishCommented Sep 1, 2017 at 22:48
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3$\begingroup$ -1 for being unclear exactly what "F-score" is being asked about, not even providing any context clues. $\endgroup$– Jake WestfallCommented Sep 2, 2017 at 1:11
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2 Answers
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When F-scores are used on tests and the null hypothesis is true, F-scores (usually) follow an F-distribution, which is said to be named after Ronald Fisher, who developed its main applications - notably ANOVA.
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18$\begingroup$ I have a feeling that the OP is referring to this F-score, not that F-score. Unfortunately the only clue for that is in the tags that have been used, not the question text... $\endgroup$ Commented Sep 1, 2017 at 19:05
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1$\begingroup$ @Silverfish You may be right. Another answer on that F-score would be interesting, too. $\endgroup$– PereCommented Sep 1, 2017 at 22:16
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If the "F-score" you're referring to is this one then according to these lecture notes the answer appears to be that it is an accident of history.
There is one thing that remains unsolved, which is why the F-measure is called F. A personal communication with David D. Lewis several years ago revealed that when the F-measure was introduced to MUC-4, the name was accidentally selected by the consequence of regarding a different F function in van Rijsbergen’s book as the definition of the “F-measure”.
