Good research is surprisingly sparse.

Mr. Jackson has spent nearly four days in New Jersey, a visit that has been marked by surprisingly sparse crowds in black neighborhoods.

Auspicious moments for commencing the revolution in health care turn out to be surprisingly sparse.

Not only did the Cyclones snap their losing streak, they also dealt the season's third shutout defeat to the Cornhuskers in front of a surprisingly sparse crowd.

A surprisingly sparse cover for a book on plenitude attracts the eye.

Upon giving their names, they were led into Farhan Tanek's private chamber, a surprisingly sparse affair that also doubled as his bedchamber.

The computer-analyzed results, which many volunteers found surprisingly sparse, are to be used as a base line for more counts.

"Mpire is certainly one of the most interesting companies in the Web 2.0 shopping space, which has been surprisingly sparse," Mr. Weiner said.

The data on him was surprisingly sparse.

Kitchner added that "it's surprisingly sparse on the dance-pop-anthem front.