Jump to content

Template talk:Infobox abortion method/Archive 1

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
< Template talk:Infobox abortion method
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Severa (talk | contribs) at 16:28, 10 February 2007 (→Ideas for new fields: Inline comment for consistency.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

(Copied from my talkpage David Ruben Talk 03:14, 9 February 2007 (UTC))

I've been wanting to create a template like Template:BirthControl infobox for use in articles in Category:Forms of abortion for some time now. I posted to Help talk:Infobox quite a while ago, but nothing has been forthcoming, and I still don't know what to make of the infobox creation process. Any pointers you might be able to lend would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! -Severa (!!!) 11:10, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Ok not difficult. Peroposed infoboxes can be added to Wikipedia:List of infoboxes/Proposed, which is really just somewhere for large number of editors to collaborate on an infobox development. I'm not aware that there is any formal vetting/proposing/accepting process, but it would be wise perhaps to discuss at Talk:Abortion where interested people (who contribute to articles that the infobox would apply to) can add their thoughts.
First though which parameters where you thinking the infobox should contain (as the proposer you can be WP:Bold and decide upon the initial suggestions)?
  • First use (anywhere) seems obvious
  • Number or fraction of all abortions is problematic (i.e. different in each country and varies over time) - or did you want such data, eg Number_US = and Date_US = with nothing shown unless a date has been provided with the number parameter. Then separate set for UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand .... but where do we stop with including countries (Ireland, Carribean, South Africa...) ?
  • Could have an Anaesthetic parameter as to whether needs anaesthetic or not (watch the sparks fly re American or British spelling).
Then I can then mark up an intial proposal to put forward at Wikipedia:List of infoboxes/Proposed and we can notify Talk:Abortion. David Ruben Talk 13:03, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
I'm glad to know that the infobox creation process isn't as formalized as the stub creation process.This infobox would be associated with WikiProject Abortion, so, I could also propose it there too (in fact, I already have, it just didn't go anywhere). My suggested paramaters are as follows:
  • Type of method: Surgical or medical.
  • First use: When a method was developed.
  • Last use: If the method has been phased out.
  • Timeframe of use by gestational age
  • Frequency of use: I think percentages would provide more immediate context as to how common a method was over numbers. With numbers, you wouldn't get an indication of how common a method was, in comparison to others, unless you checked other articles. As for which countries to cite, I'd say go with a few "representative" ones, perhaps the G8, or the most populous nations. An obvious criteria for exclusion would be countries in which abortion is generally illegal. I would also say that we should make note of countries that go against the general trend, that is, countries in which an abortion method is practiced more or less often than it is in other nations due to variations in laws or medicine.
  • Availability: The legality of a procedure by country and whether it is generally accessible.
  • Advantages and disadvantages
    • Potential health risks
    • Anaesthetic requirement
    • Contraindications
    • Other prohibitive or beneficial considerations (cost, invasiveness, how long a method requires to complete)
Maybe that's trying to cram too much information into one place? I don't know much about coding infoboxes, so I can't help you there. But I really appreciate your offer to help, because this is an improvement I've wished to see implemented on abortion articles for a long time. -Severa (!!!) 14:37, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
Seems sensible start. One of things that became apparent with the Birthcontrol infobox was that in order to try and standardise what was inserted (particularly important given contentious & disparate POVs on the topics) the parameters were quite specific (hence not just advantages or disavatanges but various parameters within each of these). So do you see the Frequency of use, Advantages & Disadvantages as just 3 free-text parameters, or each having individual parameter components within the 3 categories ? No rush to reply (I'll look back later this evening or tomorrow) David Ruben Talk 16:26, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
Like I said, I don't really know much about coding an infobox, so I wouldn't know how to technically construct the parameters. I think standardizing the options would be the best choice, but we should also leave room for flexibility, given that sources are going to vary. How did you do it with the BirthControl infobox - free text, or standardized parameters? Information under the "Frequency of use" parameter could be easily formatted to include the components country, percent, and year. However, I see "Advantages & disadvantages" as being a single heading, in order to prevent the need for shifting a parameter between one of either two headings, depending on the specifics of the method (for example, "Anaesthetic requirement" could be listed under either "Advantages" or "Disadvantages," depending on whether the procedure called for anaesthetic). Also, perhaps it isn't desirable to associate the term "advantage" with abortion, so maybe we should substitute the title "Heath considerations" for "Advantages & disadvantages." -Severa (!!!) 17:05, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Scope

Obvious point is that this infobox applies only to induced abortions (i.e. deliberate terminations) rather than spontaneous abortions (aka miscarriages) (e.g. complete abortion, incomplete abortion, threatened abortion) or even nonspecific terms such as septic abortion (which is not a proceedure but a complication from any surgical approach) David Ruben Talk 03:19, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Category:Forms of abortion includes Miscarriage, as well as other types which are not individual methods of induced abortion, but broad descriptions, such as Self-induced abortion and Late-term abortion. Use of this template should be limited to only specific methods: Dilation and curettage, Dilation and evacuation, Electric vacuum aspiration, Feticide, Hysterotomy abortion, Instillation abortion, Intact dilation and extraction, Medical abortion, Manual vacuum aspiration, Mifepristone, Menstrual extraction, Selective reduction, and Suction-aspiration abortion.
Agree with what it should apply to, but does this need be reflected in the name of the info box, e.g. "Infobox Induced Abortion" (or something similar) ? David Ruben Talk 09:53, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
Perhaps "Infobox Abortion Methods" would be a better template name. I can see other infoboxes being created for WikiProject Abortion in the future so we should attempt to make infobox names as descriptive as possible. -Severa (!!!) 10:02, 9 February 2007 (UTC)
Yes better approach at name (I also wondered about "Infobox Abortion Proceedures" or "Infobox Abortion Techniques", but perhaps these fit less well for say Medical abortion). David Ruben Talk 04:06, 10 February 2007 (UTC)
"Abortion methods" is a more comprehensive term, yes, because "procedure" implies surgery. Sort of like how I chose the title "Forms of abortion" because the category also had to be inclusive of miscarriage and self-induced abortion (not exactly "methods"). Also, a weird question, but is "medical abortion" the correct term for abortifacient-induced abortions — is "chemical abortion" just an informal variant? -Severa (!!!) 04:20, 10 February 2007 (UTC)
re Medical Abortion is indeed term used in UK, I supposed used because it is simple ("abortifacient-induced abortions" is just a mouthful and just is not going to be remembered by patients) and more because "Medical" being alternative to "Surgical". Also "Medical" suggests "medicine" meaning drug-related rather than proceedural. David Ruben Talk 04:34, 10 February 2007 (UTC)
I know abortion "abortifacient-induced abortion" is a mouthful. I was just using the term to clarify exactly what I meant by the terms "medical abortion" or "surgical abortion." -Severa (!!!) 16:23, 10 February 2007 (UTC)

Ideas for new fields

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template_talk:Infobox_abortion_method/Archive_1&oldid=107100668"