1. In an information retrieval system, a computer-implemented method for information processing, comprising: accessing, by a computer system, a set of documents obtained from the information retrieval system; establishing, automatically by the computer system, at least one identifying characteristic within the set of documents; analyzing, by the computer system, the set of documents to obtain a statistical distribution based on values associated with the set of documents, the set of documents having a given size; computing a value of a function that measures distinctiveness of the obtained statistical distribution relative to a baseline statistical distribution of values associated with a baseline set of documents; normalizing the value relative to a distribution of values of the function that measures distinctiveness over a space of document sets, wherein a respective value of the function that measures distinctiveness corresponds to a respective document set within the space of document sets, wherein each document set in the space has a size that is comparable to the given size, and the act of normalizing the value includes an act of performing a computation on the value that accounts for the given size of the set of documents; and outputting a response derived from the normalized value.