Chapter Sixteen
366
The above groupings specify the handling of an ingredient (here: protein)
in an experimental procedure. Examples (11) and (12) depict this
conditioning:
(11) The cookies made from wheat flour were selected as the control cookies
or the consumer test, the cookies made from buckwheat as an example of
flour with a high protein content, and the cookies made from FSR and
FPM (rice and maize flours), as examples which produced cookies with
similar instrumental characteristics to the control cookie. (FST 64.1)
(12) Protein solubility is very useful to show the effects of processing on
cereal-based foods. (FST 63.1)Example (11) provides more contextualization of the overall operationalization,
namely the consumer test. The tested samples are chosen based on varying
features in order to assess consumers’ preferences. In contrast, Example
(12) implies an instrumental operationalization. The term solubility refers
to the process of dissolving a chemical substance in another substance.
This, as seen in (12) can have an effect on the handling of foods.
The analysis of the linguistic embedding of protein reinforces the
previously mentioned attributes of specialized terminology. While our
everyday understanding of proteins is strongly based on our shared
knowledge of the food items which typically contain proteins, a scientific
understanding of the term relies on contextual specifications which are
entailed in the lexical co-occurrences. I draw on the findings from the
collocation analyses in order to establish a knowledge schema which
underlies both the scientific field and the specialized texts. In so doing, I
purpose a generic conceptualization which can serve to categorize the
agents and activities that define the field of food science.
Frame template for terminological units in sensory science
I have semantically categorized the lexical items in Table 2 and 3 in order
gain insight on the general conceptualization of terminology in the journal
articles. This semantic categorization shows a number of re-occurring
roles and activities, namely a) the assessor (human or instrumental), b) the
examination or manipulation of the product or a specific product feature
(human- or instrumentally-based), c) the object of investigation (sample
food product), d) the outcome (condition of the product or assessment of
the examiner), and e) the potential standardization of the outcome. As
demonstrated in Figure 2, these frame components are sequentially
relationship.