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Inconsistency in word count -- statistics

domicha Posted messages 2 Status Member -  
Raymond PENTIER Posted messages 58216 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   -
Hello,
I’m working on two Mac computers, and I often don’t get the same word count for the same file. I should note that I do check “footnotes” when reviewing the statistics. There can be variations of about 5%. The two versions of Word are different: 2007 and 2012.

Does anyone know how to fix this problem?
Best regards,
Dominique

2 answers

  1.
    Raymond PENTIER Posted messages 58216 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   17 482
     
    You can take the average of the two values; or choose the one that suits you, depending on how you intend to use it...

    Word 2010 offers two data points: spaces excluded and spaces included. The difference is about 17%.

    --

    It's good, retirement! Especially in the Antilles ... :-)
    ☻ Raymond ♂
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  2. domicha Posted messages 2 Status Member
     
    Thanks Raymond,
    In fact I wanted to be too concise: there are two different computers: one is mine and the other is my colleague's. In the context of my work it is very important to have an exact count (translation, layout) and this concern has already caused us quite a few problems.
    We count the number of words, not characters.
    I was wondering if it might be a language issue, or a version.

    Best regards,
    Dominique
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    1. Raymond PENTIER Posted messages 58216 Registration date   Status Contributor Last intervention   17 482
       
      You’re certainly right, Dominique. But I don’t have the explanation. To stay consistent, choose which computer should, for all documents, serve as the measuring instrument. To make this choice, you can run a test on a short text, making it easy for you to count the words yourself, which will allow you to see which computer provides a word count closest to your tally. Best regards.
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