Set up two rows before reading
Create row A for transit and row B for housing, both within urbanplanning. Row A starts with https://api.subredditdata.com/v1/search?q=transit&subreddit=urbanplanning&limit=3; row B changes only q to housing. These are proposed searches, not evidence that any specific record exists. Write one question above them: how do the retrieved texts connect transport access with housing?
In a local worksheet, record the exact route, subreddit, q text, optional kind, from/to, min_score, limit, pages attempted, retrieval time and actual outcome. Keep the route, community, record kind, date window, threshold and reading limit alike while varying the topic text. Use an explicit entry for an omitted filter rather than leaving colleagues to guess its value. This is a proposed local recordkeeping practice, not a server-generated analytics export.
Make the date choice explicit
If using dates, write them as YYYY-MM-DD in UTC for created_utc. An illustrative window from=2026-04-01 to=2026-04-30 includes those entire calendar dates, without claiming any coverage in April. to also covers the whole current UTC day when set to today, not just the request time. Matching windows documents a condition; it does not remove uneven archive gaps.
A comparison without a date filter is also a choice: label it as omitted in both rows. Do not quietly add a date window to only the housing search when its initial results look different. If the design changes, open a new pair of rows so the earlier selection remains visible.
Check what each search expression selects
q searches title and text with AND matching for multiple analyzed words within a matched field. Adding a second word narrows that condition; it is not a simple alternative keyword or a guaranteed exact phrase. Keep terminology visible in the worksheet and explain why you chose it. Different vocabulary can omit discussions that a community member would still regard as the same topic.
Results use _doc order rather than chronology, relevance or score. min_score filters records, not research quality. The maximum of 100 records per request and 100 pages per query means that stopping at an equal page count is an equal effort rule, not evidence of equal coverage. eq, gte and unknown count relations describe response totals, never representativeness or complete community activity.
Annotate a shared case once, then link both views
Keep the records actually received and add local notes such as the practical question raised, the proposed planning response and unresolved context. A text about housing near a station may belong to both views. If a reliable identifier is present, it can help detect that intersection; missing identifiers do not justify assuming uniqueness. Count overlap separately before any local summary, and do not equate records with participants.
For a hypothetical note about homes near a station, keep one local record reference and mark both topic labels. Add separate columns for the practical issue, the proposed response and the reason for your labels. Do not fabricate an archived quotation to complete the example. If no relevant text was retrieved, leave the example unfilled and record that outcome.
Flat records may lack optional text or references. parent_id and link_id can support local grouping when present, but neither guarantees a complete thread or an available parent. Use an uncertain label if a fragment cannot support your interpretation. The API supplies no sentiment scores, demographic profiles or topic proportions; those should not appear in the worksheet as provider-measured facts.
Write the memo and decide whether to continue
If you summarize local notes, state how many records were retained, how many overlapped and how many could not be classified. Describe differences in the texts you inspected, not growth, decline, community preferences or statistical significance. Even a second run with the same settings may return different material. Saved responses preserve the evidence you read, not the immutability of the archive.
Each successful retrieval is billed once, including empty results; a successful retry after a lost response may add another charge. Local recoding of saved records is free of API calls. A useful conclusion may be a clearer question for further reading, supported by a few contextual examples and a list of missing evidence. It need not be a ranking of which topic matters most to the community.
Close with the next unanswered reading question. More pages may add examples, but matching effort across rows still does not produce a community census. Preserve the request conditions and saved responses with the memo so a colleague can assess the same evidence without receiving the API key.
