FLEXIBLE SUMMARIZATION OF TEXTUAL CONTENT

1 . A method, comprising:

obtaining a content item comprising a set of text units;

for each text unit in the set of text units:

obtaining a similarity score representing a similarity of the text unit to other text units in the content item; and

calculating, by a computer system, a ranking score for the text unit from a combination comprising a text unit frequency for the text unit and the similarity score;

ranking the set of text units by the ranking score; and

using the ranking to display a summary comprising a subset of the text units in the content item.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the combination further comprises a position weight associated with a position of the text unit in the content item.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the combination further comprises one or more parameters associated with a source of the content item.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the source is at least one of:

a customer survey;

an article;

a complaint;

a review;

a group discussion; and

social media content.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein calculating the ranking score for the text unit comprises:

obtaining the text unit frequency from a search mechanism;

using the text unit frequency to calculate an inverse text unit frequency weight for the text unit; and

including the inverse text unit frequency weight in the combination.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the inverse text unit frequency weight is further calculated using a total text unit frequency for the set of text units.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein using the ranking to display the summary comprises:

obtaining a threshold for the ranking score; and

displaying, in the summary, the subset of the text units in the ranking that exceeds the threshold.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein using the ranking to display the summary further comprises:

displaying, in the summary, representations of remaining text units in the ranking that do not exceed the threshold.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein obtaining the threshold for the ranking score comprises:

adjusting the threshold to achieve a level of compression of the content item in the summary.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein ranking the set of text units by the ranking score comprises:

determining a set of positions of the text units in the ranking; and

outputting the positions according to an ordering of the text units in the content item.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the text unit comprises a sentence.

12 . An apparatus, comprising:

one or more processors; and

memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:

obtain a content item comprising a set of text units;

for each text unit in the set of text units:

obtain a similarity score representing a similarity of the text unit to other text units in the content item; and

calculate a ranking score for the text unit from a combination comprising a text unit frequency for the text unit and the similarity score;

rank the set of text units by the ranking score; and

use the ranking to display a summary comprising a subset of the text units in the content item.

13 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the combination further comprises a position weight associated with a position of the text unit in the content item.

14 . The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the combination further comprises one or more parameters associated with a source of the content item.

15 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein calculating the ranking score for the text unit comprises:

obtaining the text unit frequency from a search mechanism;

using the text unit frequency and a total text unit frequency for the set of text units to calculate an inverse text unit frequency weight for the text unit; and

including the inverse text unit frequency weight in the combination.

16 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein using the ranking to display the summary comprises:

obtaining a threshold for the ranking score; and

displaying, in the summary, the subset of the text units in the ranking that exceeds the threshold.

17 . The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein obtaining the threshold for the ranking score comprises:

adjusting the threshold to achieve a level of compression of the content item in the summary.

18 . The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein ranking the set of text units by the ranking score comprises:

determining a set of positions of the text units in the ranking; and

outputting the positions according to an ordering of the text units in the content item.

19 . A system, comprising:

an analysis module comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the system to:

obtain a content item comprising a set of text units;

for each text unit in the set of text units:

obtain a similarity score representing a similarity of the text unit to other text units in the content item; and

calculate a ranking score for the text unit from a combination comprising a text unit frequency for the text unit and the similarity score; and

rank the set of text units by the ranking score; and

a presentation module comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the system to use the ranking to display a summary comprising a subset of the text units in the content item.

20 . The system of claim 19 , wherein using the ranking to display the summary comprises:

obtaining a threshold for the ranking score;

displaying, in the summary, the subset of the text units in the ranking that exceeds the threshold; and

displaying, in the summary, representations of remaining text units in the ranking that do not exceed the threshold.