a small set of documents

USAGE SUMMARY

The phrase "a small set of documents" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when referring to a limited number of documents, often in contexts like reports, research, or administrative tasks. Example: "For the project, I have prepared a small set of documents that outline our findings and recommendations."

✓ Grammatically correct

Science

News & Media

Academia

Human-verified examples from authoritative sources

Exact Expressions

2 human-written examples

It is often enough to present a small set of documents that a user can browse to locate the needed information.

Journal of Software Engineering Research and Development

Our method can potentially be applied to answer more general questions, for instance, instead of taking the cue from a small set of documents initially supplied by the user, data taken from the question itself can be used to score candidate answers.

BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making

Human-verified similar examples from authoritative sources

Similar Expressions

58 human-written examples

There are an increasing number of practical applications involving document sets where retrieval of a small set of relevant documents does not suffice but the entire dataset must be examined for inherent structures, e.g., clusters of similar documents.

Plosone

In practice, all required values except the topic proportions associated with the user-selected sample documents, which can only be computed after the user has identified a small set of relevant documents, can essentially be pre-computed offline.

BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making

Note that the IAA was calculated on a small set of 20 documents that were doubly annotated in the pilot annotation, and therefore it was possible that system performance exceeded IAA (Section 2.5.3).

Bioinformatics

Given a small set of sample documents D ′, | D ′ | ≪ | D |, a user has initially identified as relevant e.g., via a user query interface, our scoring method automatically suggests eligibility criteria from D, D ⊃ D', by ranking them according to how appropriate they are to the clinical trial protocol currently being designed.

BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making

The AlzPathway case study was used to illustrate the potential of PathNER in identifying relationships between pathways and disease, using a relatively small set of documents.

BMC Systems Biology

Initially, the tool is trained with a small set of manually annotated documents.

Database : the journal of biological databases and curation

Considering retrieval from MEDLINE to Tier 2 (that is, identifying the relatively small set of documents that are actually included in the final systematic review) shows similar trends: TRC queries outperform other variants, and show a relatively high proportion of identified documents (recall of 40.9% for the top 1,000 documents, and 78.4% for top 10,000 documents).

BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making

The hacking group published a small set of letters, emails and other documents that mention various law firms, as well as the Transport Security Administration TSA and Federal Aviation Administrationon (The TSA could not provide a statement in time for publication, and the FAA told Motherboard in an email it was investigating).

Vice

In the early 1970s, Northwestern Libraries acquired a small set of original handwritten Beatles lyrics, which document some of the Fab Four's first ideas for "The Word," "Eleanor Rigby," "Good Day Sunshine," and other classics.

Harvard University

Expert writing Tips

Best practice

When using "a small set of documents", ensure the context clearly indicates what criteria define the 'smallness' of the set. For instance, compare it to a larger collection or specify the exact number when relevant.

Common error

Avoid using "a small set of documents" to introduce findings or claims that require a more extensive or representative sample. Ensure your conclusions align with the limited scope of the document set.

Linguistic Context

The phrase "a small set of documents" functions as a determiner phrase, specifying a limited quantity of documents. Ludwig indicates that this phrase is grammatically correct and widely used. It typically modifies a noun phrase to indicate the scope of information being considered.

Expression frequency: Common

Frequent in

Science

40%

News & Media

30%

Academia

15%

Less common in

Formal & Business

10%

Wiki

3%

Encyclopedias

2%

Ludwig's WRAP-UP

In summary, "a small set of documents" is a grammatically correct phrase used to refer to a limited number of documents. As confirmed by Ludwig, the phrase's neutral register makes it suitable for diverse contexts, from formal academic research to news reports. Its primary function is to clearly define the scope of reference, ensuring precision in communication. While Ludwig's AI analysis confirms the phrase's validity and offers related alternatives for nuanced expression, understanding the context and potential for overgeneralization remains crucial for effective usage.

More alternative expressions

Phrases that express similar concepts, ordered by semantic similarity:

a limited number of documents

Emphasizes the restriction on the quantity of documents.

a handful of documents

Suggests a very small and easily manageable quantity.

a select group of documents

Highlights that the documents were chosen specifically.

a concise collection of documents

Focuses on the brevity and compilation of the documents.

a restricted set of documents

Implies limitations or constraints on the availability of the documents.

a few relevant documents

Indicates a small quantity of documents specifically related to a topic.

a manageable collection of documents

Highlights the ease of handling the number of documents.

a limited selection of documents

Implies choosing particular documents from a larger pool.

a compact compilation of documents

Suggests an organized and efficient collection of documents.

a reduced set of documents

Implies documents that were originally more numerous were narrowed down.

FAQs

How can I use "a small set of documents" in a sentence?

You can use "a small set of documents" to refer to a limited number of documents, often in contexts like reports, research, or administrative tasks. For example, "For the project, I have prepared "a small set of documents" that outline our findings and recommendations."

What are some alternatives to "a small set of documents"?

Alternatives include "a limited number of documents", "a handful of documents", or "a select group of documents", depending on the nuance you want to convey.

Is it appropriate to use "a small set of documents" in formal writing?

Yes, "a small set of documents" is appropriate for formal writing. It's a neutral and clear way to refer to a limited number of documents. The key is to ensure that the context justifies the use of a limited sample.

When should I specify the exact number of documents instead of using "a small set of documents"?

If the precise number of documents is crucial to the context or argument, it's better to specify the exact number. Use "a small set of documents" when the general idea of a limited quantity is sufficient.