Debra T. Burhans
Burhans is investigating how any clause derived from the query during
the course of resolution-based question answering can be given as a
valuable answer to the query. Traditionally, the only answers given
to a question of the form Q(x) were specifics, that is, constants
a, for which Q(a) holds. Generic answers, of the form 
have been identified by researchers in the field of
data mining. Generic answers allow species and categories to be given
as anwers without reifying them as individuals. Burhans has
identified hypothetical/generic answers, of the form 
. The hypothetical part of these answers can
form relevant follow-up questions the question-answering system can
ask of the user. Burhans is developing a structural account of which
literals in a clause that derives from the query are part of the
specific part, which are part of the generic part, and which are part
of the hypothetical part.