Re: Plural form for "Organization"

Michael Preminger wrote:
Hello!

I am writing a thesis within Information Retrieval.

In the thesis I am evaluating retrieval within different ways of
organizing document representations in spaces (axis systems).

I have a number of different types of such ways to organize document
representations, to each of which I refer to as a "data organization".

Recently one of my colleagues said that it would be wrong to use the
noun "organization" in plural ("organizations"), as organization has a
plural for the institutional sense only. I am dependent on being able
to talk about those organiztions in plural (as I compare their
properties).
My question is:
1. Is it correct that "organization" has a plural for the
institutional sense only?
2. Would "Arrangements" be any better?
3. Any other suggestions

As a former academic (many years ago), I think that the use of a word in a
new sense defined in an academic paper (which appears to be what you are
doing) stands aside from previous uses of the word in more familiar settings
and may well have its own rules. But, IMO, you would be better to coin a
new phrase that avoids the problem, or use a word that doesn't present the
problem. How about "data tree"?

I common parlance, the word "algebra" probably doesn't have a plural. To
algebraists it certainly does. My PhD these was called "On certain
varieties of Universal Algebras" and would have been pretty meaningless
without the plural "Algebras".


--
Mike Stevens
narrowboat Felis Catus III
web-site www.mike-stevens.co.uk

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Visit the web site www.saveourwaterways.org.uk


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