A mechanism is provided in a data processing system for conducting error analysis for a question answering system. Responsive to the question answering system generating one or more candidate answers for an input question, wherein the one or more candidate answers are determined to be incorrect, the mechanism instantiates a plurality of instances of the question answering system with a modification to each instance. The mechanism provides the input question to each of the plurality of instances of the question answering system. The mechanism analyzes results from the plurality of instances of the question answering system to identify at least one modification that led to improved results. The mechanism presents a graphical output based on the analysis.
Please help me write a proper abstract based on the patent claims. CLAIM: 1. A method, in a data processing system, for conducting error analysis for a question answering system, the method comprising: responsive to the question answering system generating one or more candidate answers for an input question, wherein the one or more candidate answers are determined to be incorrect, instantiating a plurality of instances of the question answering system with a modification to each instance; providing the input question to each of the plurality of instances of the question answering system; analyzing results from the plurality of instances of the question answering system to identify at least one modification that led to improved results; and presenting a graphical output based on the analysis. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing results from the plurality of instances of the question answering system comprises: comparing confidence scores of the one or more candidate answers to confidence scores received from the plurality of instances of the question answering system; and identifying a modification to a given instance of the question answering system resulting in a higher confidence score. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing results from the plurality of instances of the question answering system comprises determining steps to integrate changes to the question answering system. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein instantiating the plurality of instances of the question answering system comprises performing a modification to a pipeline of reasoning algorithms of each instance of the question answering system. 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the pipeline of reasoning algorithms of each instance of the question answering system comprises a plurality of stages. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the plurality of stages comprise a question and topic analysis stage, a question decomposition stage, a hypothesis generation stage, a hypothesis and evidence scoring stage, and a final confidence merging and ranking stage. 7. The method of claim 5, wherein instantiating the plurality of instances of the question answering system further comprises performing the modification to the same stage of the pipeline of each instance of the question answering system. 8. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer readable program stored therein, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a computing device, causes the computing device to: responsive to the question answering system generating one or more candidate answers for an input question, wherein the one or more candidate answers are determined to be incorrect, instantiate a plurality of instances of the question answering system with a modification to each instance; provide the input question to each of the plurality of instances of the question answering system; analyze results from the plurality of instances of the question answering system to identify at least one modification that led to improved results; and present a graphical output based on the analysis. 9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein analyzing results from the plurality of instances of the question answering system comprises: comparing confidence scores of the one or more candidate answers to confidence scores received from the plurality of instances of the question answering system; and identifying a modification to a given instance of the question answering system resulting in a higher confidence score. 10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein analyzing results from the plurality of instances of the question answering system comprises determining steps to integrate changes to the question answering system. 11. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein instantiating the plurality of instances of the question answering system comprises performing a modification to a pipeline of reasoning algorithms of each instance of the question answering system. 12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the pipeline of reasoning algorithms of each instance of the question answering system comprises a plurality of stages. 13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the plurality of stages comprise a question and topic analysis stage, a question decomposition stage, a hypothesis generation stage, a hypothesis and evidence scoring stage, and a final confidence merging and ranking stage. 14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein instantiating the plurality of instances of the question answering system further comprises performing the modification to the same stage of the pipeline of each instance of the question answering system. 15. An apparatus comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor, wherein the memory comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to: responsive to the question answering system generating one or more candidate answers for an input question, wherein the one or more candidate answers are determined to be incorrect, instantiate a plurality of instances of the question answering system with a modification to each instance; provide the input question to each of the plurality of instances of the question answering system; analyze results from the plurality of instances of the question answering system to identify at least one modification that led to improved results; and present a graphical output based on the analysis. 16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein analyzing results from the plurality of instances of the question answering system comprises: comparing confidence scores of the one or more candidate answers to confidence scores received from the plurality of instances of the question answering system; and identifying a modification to a given instance of the question answering system resulting in a higher confidence score. 17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein analyzing results from the plurality of instances of the question answering system comprises determining steps to integrate changes to the question answering system. 18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein instantiating the plurality of instances of the question answering system comprises performing a modification to a pipeline of reasoning algorithms of each instance of the question answering system. 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the pipeline of reasoning algorithms of each instance of the question answering system comprises a plurality of stages. 20. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the plurality of stages comprise a question and topic analysis stage, a question decomposition stage, a hypothesis generation stage, a hypothesis and evidence scoring stage, and a final confidence merging and ranking stage.