categoriespectrum
Categoriespectrum is a conceptual framework used to describe how categories within a domain are distributed and related. It envisions categories arranged along a spectrum, an ordered continuum that encodes attributes such as granularity, specificity, semantic distance, or usage frequency. The term is used primarily in information architecture, taxonomy design, and data analysis to assess coverage and coherence of a category system.
To construct a categoriespectrum, one defines the axes or dimensions relevant to the domain (for example, granularity
Key properties include interpretability, comparability, and stability. A well-defined spectrum should preserve intuitive ordering (broader categories
Examples can illustrate its use. In a news taxonomy, the spectrum may range from broad themes like
Applications and research contexts include supporting navigation design, search result labeling, and quality assessment of taxonomy