Generating Numerical Approximations

摘要

AbstractWe describe a computational model for planning phrases like “more than a quarter” and “25.9 per cent” which describe proportions at different levels of precision. The model lays out the key choices in planning a numerical description, using formal definitions of mathematical form (e.g., the distinction between fractions and percentages) and roundness adapted from earlier studies. The task is modeled as a constraint satisfaction problem, with solutions subsequently ranked by preferences (e.g., for roundness). Detailed constraints are based on a corpus of numerical expressions collected in the NumGen project,11?NumGen: Generating intelligent descriptions of numerical quantities for people with different levels of numeracy (http://mcs.open.ac.uk/sw6629umgen). NumGen was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council under Grant Ref. RES-000-22-2760. and evaluated through empirical studies in which subjects were asked to produce (or complete) numerical expressions in specified contexts.