Structure of sociological abstracts
Janko Klasinc, Alenka Šauperl · Knjižnica revija za področje bibliotekarstva in informacijske znanosti · 2013
ABSTRACTThe purpose of the study was to evaluate the suitability of SIST ISO 214 instructions for writing sociological abstracts. Through analysis of a sample of abstracts (N=200) obtained from the journals Družboslovne razprave and International Sociology it has been possible to determine whether the instructions are consistent with the actual structure of abstracts. Examination of presence of ISO content categories in the sample showed high presence of category R (results) and low presence of categories P (purpose/scope) and H (hypothesis). Coding with alternative Ranganathan facets based Spanring outline showed high presence of broadly defined Hu-bit element (energy, action) that captures large portions of text and consecutively loses meaning. Other, more specifically defined elements (active and passive elements, motivation, space, time) show good presence, but rather than describing text structure demonstrate better use for capturing key content factors. Both outlines can aid in writing sociological abstracts, but only introduction of a new T (topic) category makes ISO outline reflect the actual abstracts structure. A narrower definition or a division of Hu-bit element would improve the consistency of the Spanring outline, which could serve as means for abstract based indexing of documents.