Method and apparatus for determining search result demographics
View Patent ↗Techniques are presented for producing demographics, in an automated fashion, from a search result of computer-accessible content. While the demographics can be determined for a research product that has been produced by any technique, they are particularly useful when applied to an automated frame-based search approach. Frame-based search engines are presented for technology profiling, healthcare-related search and brand research. Determination of a demographic proceeds at two levels: member and population. At the member level, a demographic characteristic can be determined applicable with either total or partial certainty. Each value assigned by a demographic, to a population member, has a confidence level associated with it and the assignments can be represented by a Confidence Distribution. Summarization of a demographic, at the population level, depends upon whether the certainty assignments, at the member level, are total or partial. Declarant Demographics are presented. Approaches, to determining Declarant Demographics, are presented.
1. A method for frame-based search, performed by computing hardware and programmable memory, comprising the following steps:
receiving a first rule, for producing an instance in accordance with a first frame, wherein the first frame comprises a first input role and a first output role;
receiving a second rule, for producing an instance in accordance with a second frame, wherein the second frame comprises a second input role and a second output role;
receiving a first source corpus;
identifying first and second units of natural language from, respectively, first and second snippets of the first source corpus;
producing a first instance, from the first unit, by application of the first rule, wherein the first instance has a first input value assigned to its first input role and a first output value assigned to its first output role;
producing a second instance, from the second unit, by application of the second rule, wherein the second instance has a second input value assigned to its second input role and a second output value assigned to its second output role;
determining the first and second instances represent a same third frame;
determining a same third value as representative of the first and second input values;
determining a same fourth value as representative of the first and second output values;
producing, as a result of computing hardware and programmable memory, a first result that contains a first result-value and a first result-base, wherein the first result-value is the fourth value and the first result-base contains the first and second snippets;
determining, as a result of computing hardware and programmable memory, a member-level demographic characteristic for each member of the first result-base;
determining, as a result of computing hardware and programmable memory, a first demographic characteristic, for the first result, by combining the member- level demographic characteristics; and
displaying, to a user as part of a search result, the first demographic characteristic as a demographic determined for the first result-value.
2. A data processing system, made with computing hardware and programmable memory, for frame-based profile generation, comprising the following sub-systems:
a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish receiving a first rule, for producing an instance in accordance with a first frame, wherein the first frame comprises a first input role and a first output role;
a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish receiving a second rule, for producing an instance in accordance with a second frame, wherein the second frame comprises a second input role and a second output role;
a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish receiving a first source corpus;
a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish identifying first and second units of natural language from, respectively, first and second snippets of the first source corpus;
a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish producing a first instance, from the first unit, by application of the first rule, wherein the first instance has a first input value assigned to its first input role and a first output value assigned to its first output role;
a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish producing a second instance, from the second unit, by application of the second rule, wherein the second instance has a second input value assigned to its second input role and a second output value assigned to its second output role;
a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish determining the first and second instances represent a same third frame;
a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish determining a same third value as representative of the first and second input values;
a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish determining a same fourth value as representative of the first and second output values;
a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish producing a first result that contains a first result-value and a first result-base, wherein the first result-value is the fourth value and the first result-base contains the first and second snippets;
a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish determining a member-level demographic characteristic for each member of the first result-base;
a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish determining a first demographic characteristic, for the first result, by combining the member-level demographic characteristics; and
a sub-system configured, as a result of the computing hardware and programmable memory, to accomplish displaying, to a user as part of a search result, the first demographic characteristic as a demographic determined for the first result-value.
3. A computer program on a computer readable medium, having computer-readable code devices embodied therein, for frame-based profile generation, the computer program comprising:
computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish receiving a first rule, for producing an instance in accordance with a first frame, wherein the first frame comprises a first input role and a first output role;
computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish receiving a second rule, for producing an instance in accordance with a second frame, wherein the second frame comprises a second input role and a second output role;
computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish receiving a first source corpus;
computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish identifying first and second units of natural language from, respectively, first and second snippets of the first source corpus;
computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish producing a first instance, from the first unit, by application of the first rule, wherein the first instance has a first input value assigned to its first input role and a first output value assigned to its first output role;
computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish producing a second instance, from the second unit, by application of the second rule, wherein the second instance has a second input value assigned to its second input role and a second output value assigned to its second output role;
computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish determining the first and second instances represent a same third frame;
computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish determining a same third value as representative of the first and second input values;
computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish determining a same fourth value as representative of the first and second output values;
computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish producing a first result that contains a first result-value and a first result-base, wherein the first result-value is the fourth value and the first result-base contains the first and second snippets;
computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish determining a member-level demographic characteristic for each member of the first result-base;
computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish determining a first demographic characteristic, for the first result, by combining the member-level demographic characteristic; and
computer readable program code devices configured to accomplish displaying, to a user as part of a search result, the first demographic characteristic as a demographic determined for the first result-value.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the steps of determining a member-level demographic characteristic and determining a first demographic characteristic further comprise:
assigning each member, of the first result-base, a value from a range of potential values; and
summarizing the values assigned with a histogram.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the range of potential values represents a demographic characteristic with two values.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the demographic characteristic is gender.
7. The method of claim 4 , wherein each value assigned is treated as being totally reliable.
8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the histogram is normalized.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the steps of determining a member-level demographic characteristic and determining a first demographic characteristic further comprise:
assigning each member, of the first result-base, a confidence distribution, wherein a plurality of values are assigned, each with a confidence level; and
combining the confidence distributions.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein each confidence distribution represents a demographic characteristic with two values.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the demographic characteristic is gender.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein the confidence distributions are normalized.
13. The data processing system of claim 2 , wherein the sub-systems configured to accomplish determining a member-level demographic characteristic and determining a first demographic characteristic further comprise:
a sub-system configured to accomplish assigning each member, of the first result-base, a value from a range of potential values; and
a sub-system configured to accomplish summarizing the values assigned with a histogram.
14. The data processing system of claim 13 , wherein the range of potential values represents a demographic characteristic with two values.
15. The data processing system of claim 14 , wherein the demographic characteristic is gender.
16. The data processing system of claim 13 , wherein each value assigned is treated as being totally reliable.
17. The data processing system of claim 13 , wherein the histogram is normalized.
18. The data processing system of claim 2 , wherein the a sub-systems configured to accomplish determining a member-level demographic characteristic and determining a first demographic characteristic further comprise:
a sub-system configured to accomplish assigning each member, of the first result-base, a confidence distribution, wherein a plurality of values are assigned, each with a confidence level; and
a sub-system configured to accomplish combining the confidence distributions.
19. The data processing system of claim 18 , wherein each confidence distribution represents a demographic characteristic with two values.
20. The data processing system of claim 19 , wherein the demographic characteristic is gender.
21. The data processing system of claim 18 , wherein the confidence distributions are normalized.