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Philosophy of Archive
Includes aims, history, how to contact us
Abstract -- The archive provides readable articles on scientific research into astrology that are also sensitive to astrology's merits. The authors are mostly researchers who, unlike astrologers, have no vested interest in the outcome. Articles are rigorous, impartial, and have passed peer review. All have abstracts to save your time. All are in plain English. The archive began in July 2000 and receives over 15,000 visitors a year. Currently it has 75 articles totalling half a million words (over 32 hours of reading). Our email address is in the Netherlands, see text for details. We welcome your comments. All comments will be acknowledged.
Aims
By 2000 astrology had been tested in many scientific studies. But the
results are rarely mentioned in astrology books or on astrology websites,
nor are they treated fairly by debunkers. For most people the results
are hard to find. So this archive was started in July 2000 by former astrologer
Rudolf H Smit from Zwolle in the Netherlands. The aim is to provide articles
related to scientific research into astrology. The authors are mostly
researchers who, unlike astrologers, have no vested interest in the outcome.
Philosophy
On this website you will find articles sensitive to astrology's merits
as well as articles devoted to its scientific exploration. Articles are
rigorous, impartial, and have passed peer review. All have abstracts to
save your time, are in plain English, and are indexed for easy retrieval
because in this archive the reader's interest comes first. Until 2010
the articles were updated as needed, but updating has been largely discontinued
because (1) the picture is unlikely to change, and (2) hard copy is more
convenient -- as in this new book:
 |
Latest update In late 2022 the content of this archive was updated, expanded, and put into book form. Over 1000 studies, 1400 visuals, 4000 refs. Click here for details. |
History
The design of the archive website began in late 1999. The name was
secured in February 2000 and the first astrology-and-science website
went online in late July 2000 with 10 articles. By 2008 the number of
articles has grown to 70. During the next five years articles were
updated or discontinued, and others were added. By 2013 there was a
total of 75 articles, a total of half a million words taking more than
32 hours to read. In 2013 the archive website was redesigned and made
easier to use.
Number of articles in the present archive 2000-2013
Fog level
Article length is generally between 1000 and 15,000 words. The average
is 7500 words, which takes 30 minutes to read at the average student reading
speed of 250 words per minute. The longest article (Interview with researchers)
has 42,000 words. Reading difficulty is generally between 10 and 12 as
measured by Gunning's Fog Index (Gunning R The Technique of
Clear Writing McGraw-Hill 1952:34-39). The index is roughly equal
to the grade level required for 90% comprehension. For comparison 6 is
required for comics, 9 for Reader's Digest, and 14 for 61+encyclopedias.
12 is the average reading comprehension level of 17-year-olds. On this
website no article exceeds 13. The book Understanding Astrology: A critical
review of 1000 empirical studies that updates this archive is 650,000 words
and is of the same level of reading difficulty.
Usage
A counter was added in September 2000. After two years the site had
received more than 10,000 visitors mainly from North America and Europe.
In 2008 it received its 100,000th visitor and its 150,000th in late
2011. Currently it receives more than 15,000 visitors a year.
Website statistics per month 2005-2009 show a steady increase
The ISP's Webalizer Version 2.01 recorded daily hits and monthly statistics for the most popular pages, and were discontinued in 2010 by the ISP when the website URL became www.astrology-and-science.com (was www.rudolfhsmit.nl).
The records are thus out of date but they are the only records available. For the period January 2006 through January 2010 (49 months) they gave the following indications:
Total visitors1,360,006. On average each visitor accessed 2.5 pages.
Mean hits per day for the top twenty pages
Portal with option to continue 67.9, Home page 40.6, Case for and
against astrology (article) 8.0, Case for and against astrology
(abstract) 6.6, 1700 References 5.3, Grand summary 4.1, Artifacts in
data 4.0, Obituary of H.J.Eysenck 3.7, Concepts of modern astrology
(abstract) 3.7, Concepts of modern astrology (article) 3.7, Links 3.6,
Love Signs 3.5, Astrologer meets client 3.3, Astrology my disaster 2.9,
Murder 2.9, Sachs's Astrology File 2.8, Indian scientists on Vedic
astrology 2.6, Grand summary 2.6, Gauquelin history 2.5, Sun sign
history and validity 2.3, Using astrology as a counselling tool 2.3.
Average number per month of countries providing visitors
61±4 in 2005 and 89±5 in 2009, total unique countries 147.
Search terms used by visitors arriving via a search engine
There were 11130 searches using a total of 355 search terms. Search
terms for 1% (111) or more of searches were:
Astrology 13.5%, astrology science 11.9%, astrology and science 10.0%, science of astrology 8.5%, is astrology a science 5.0%, science and astrology 5.0%, science astrology 4.9%, the science of astrology 3.1%, astrology as a science 2.9%, modern philosophers 2.6%, arguments against astrology 2.2%, eysenck 1.9%, astrology a science 1.5%, astrologie 1.5%, astrological science 1.3%, science.com 1.2%, astrology is a science 1.2%, same birthday compatibility 1.1%, modern astrology 1.0%, against astrology 1.0%, (www.astrology 0.8%, astrology vs science 0.8%, is astrology science 0.7%).
Both these search terms and the most popular pages indicate that most visitors have serious interests (as opposed to a pop astrology site).
Visitor countries
Since 2000 the visitors have come from North America 48%, UK and Europe
28%, Asia 12%, Australasia 4%, South America 3%, Africa 1%, Central
America 1%, unknown 3%. In 2005 about 40% arrived by dialling the
website direct, rising to 50% in 2009. The rest arrived via a search
engine.
To contact us
Send your emails to wout DOT heukelom AT hetnet.nl (no spaces). We welcome
your suggestions for improving this website. All emails will be acknowledged.
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