Jack Nicholson Explains Query Duplicates

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Why are there duplicates in my query results?   We hear this question A LOT in The Raiser’s Edge Support.  It’s a confusing topic and can be hard to explain.  So, we’ve enlisted the help of Jack Nicholson... instead of thinking about a Raiser’s Edge database, let’s imagine we’re using the Internet Movie Database.

jackquery

For Criteria, we ask how many people in the database are named Jack Nicholson and were born on 04/22/1937, like so:

Name equals Jack Nicholson
AND Birthdate equals  04/22/1937

In the output, I include Constituent Name. Here is the result:
Jack Nicholson

Now, I decide to add Oscar Nominated Films to the Output tab, in addition to his Constituent Name.  Criteria remains the same.  And here are my new results:

Jack Nicholson   About Schmidt
Jack Nicholson   As Good as It Gets
Jack Nicholson   A Few Good Men
Jack Nicholson   Ironweed
Jack Nicholson   Prizzi's Honor
Jack Nicholson   Terms of Endearment
Jack Nicholson   Reds
Jack Nicholson   One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Jack Nicholson   Chinatown
Jack Nicholson   The Last Detail
Jack Nicholson   Five Easy Pieces
Jack Nicholson   Easy Rider

There is still only one Jack Nicholson but I have chosen to see additional information for him – hence the duplication.  Here’s a Knowledgebase solution that goes into more depth about one to many fields.

How do you explain query duplication to coworkers that are new to the program? Let us know in the comments section below.

Knowledge is power - Why not learn about Working with Standard Queries in The Raiser's Edge in our two hour instructor-led online class? You’ll find the more you know, the better you can provide information to those who are wondering where those duplicates came from. Got two hours and want to know more about removing duplicates from your queries? Our Working with Query Lists in The Raiser's Edge will help guide you.
News Raiser's Edge® Blog 04/03/2014 11:01am EDT

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