I ran some database reports in LDAB and found the results curious. If I run the report of report for texts in the date range of 101AD to 200AD that are of the Christian religion, it returns 4 texts. If I run the report of report for texts in the date range of 201AD to 300AD that are of the Christian religion, it returns 19 texts. So I expected the number of Christian texts in the date range of 101AD to 300AD to be 23 (4+19), but when I ran the report it gave the figure of 138. Is this an error or is there something simple I am overlooking?
TM Forum
odd variations in results for century searches
Thank you for your email. The answer is simple and complicated at the same time.
First of all we do not use 101 - 200 for the second century AD, but 100 - 199 (the reasons are historical, too long to explain). So better to use that, otherwise you'll miss some. But better still: have a look at the guiding text to the right by clicking the I-logo to the right of the field. There it reads:
So for 2nd century use 'AD02' or 'second century AD' or '2nd century AD' or - if you want - '100 - 199'.
Then: searches are 'strict' by default. This means that if you search for texts dated to the 2nd century, the result will only contain records that are dated to the second century and not those whose range only partially falls in that range. E.g. this will not give you texts that are dated to the late 2nd - early 3rd century, as the range of those texts is broader and partially outside the 2nd century. So you'll miss those, not only when you search for the 2nd century, but also if you search for the 3rd century. However, if you search for AD02 - AD03, they will be included, as their range entirely falls in the requested range.
We also have the option of doing a less strict search. So if you search for christian and 2nd century you get:
8 hits. Now under the 2nd century tab there is a + which mentions a less strict application of the date range. If you click that you will see:
If you click on 'Pick this!', a 'not strict' search will be done. [There was a bug here which caused you to remove the strict search, but I have solved that now: thanks!] This 'not strict' search gives 28 results, because now all texts whose range falls partially in the requested range are included (not those that include the entire range, as otherwise all text dated 'Roman period' in general would be included). For the precise explanation, you can click the question mark at the end which brings you to https://www.trismegistos.org/calendar/calendar_howsearchworks.php. It's complicated, as you'll see.
So take care when doing chronological searches: you cannot simply add up the results, because of the intrinsic uncertainty of many dates, especially for literary texts.
First of all we do not use 101 - 200 for the second century AD, but 100 - 199 (the reasons are historical, too long to explain). So better to use that, otherwise you'll miss some. But better still: have a look at the guiding text to the right by clicking the I-logo to the right of the field. There it reads:
So for 2nd century use 'AD02' or 'second century AD' or '2nd century AD' or - if you want - '100 - 199'.
Then: searches are 'strict' by default. This means that if you search for texts dated to the 2nd century, the result will only contain records that are dated to the second century and not those whose range only partially falls in that range. E.g. this will not give you texts that are dated to the late 2nd - early 3rd century, as the range of those texts is broader and partially outside the 2nd century. So you'll miss those, not only when you search for the 2nd century, but also if you search for the 3rd century. However, if you search for AD02 - AD03, they will be included, as their range entirely falls in the requested range.
We also have the option of doing a less strict search. So if you search for christian and 2nd century you get:
8 hits. Now under the 2nd century tab there is a + which mentions a less strict application of the date range. If you click that you will see:
If you click on 'Pick this!', a 'not strict' search will be done. [There was a bug here which caused you to remove the strict search, but I have solved that now: thanks!] This 'not strict' search gives 28 results, because now all texts whose range falls partially in the requested range are included (not those that include the entire range, as otherwise all text dated 'Roman period' in general would be included). For the precise explanation, you can click the question mark at the end which brings you to https://www.trismegistos.org/calendar/calendar_howsearchworks.php. It's complicated, as you'll see.
So take care when doing chronological searches: you cannot simply add up the results, because of the intrinsic uncertainty of many dates, especially for literary texts.