Key Word in Context

Key Word in Context
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Specialty	Linguistics, Information Retrieval
Synonyms	KWIC
Pronunciation	Phonetic spelling or audio file
Definition	Definition of the medical term
Causes	Common causes or associated conditions
Diagnosis	Methods for identifying the term in clinical practice
Treatment	Treatment or management options
Related terms	Other related medical terms
Website	[ More information]

Key Word in Context (KWIC) is a method used in linguistics and information retrieval to present a word or term in the context of the surrounding text. This technique is particularly useful for analyzing the usage and meaning of words within a corpus of text.

Overview

The KWIC format displays a keyword in the center of the page, with a fixed number of words or characters on either side. This allows for quick scanning of the context in which the keyword appears, making it easier to understand its meaning and usage in different contexts.

Applications

KWIC is widely used in the field of corpus linguistics for text analysis and lexicography. It is also employed in information retrieval systems to help users find relevant documents by showing how search terms appear in the text.

Linguistics

In linguistics, KWIC is used to study the frequency and distribution of words in a language. It helps linguists understand how words are used in different contexts and can aid in the development of dictionaries and thesauri.

Information Retrieval

In information retrieval, KWIC is used to improve the search experience by providing users with snippets of text that show how their search terms are used in documents. This can help users determine the relevance of a document to their search query.

Advantages

• Contextual Understanding: KWIC provides immediate context for a keyword, aiding in comprehension.
• Efficiency: It allows for quick scanning of large amounts of text to find relevant information.
• Versatility: Useful in various fields such as linguistics, library science, and data mining.

See Also

• Concordance (publishing)
• Text mining
• Natural language processing

References

John,

 Corpus, Concordance, Collocation, 
  
 Oxford University Press, 
 1991, 
  
  
 ISBN 978-0194371447,

Scott, Mike,

 WordSmith Tools version 4, 
 Computers and Texts, 
 2004, 
 Vol. 28 
 pp. 2–4,

External Links

• KWIC Tool Online