Since R is open source and help may come from varied levels of experience on R-Help, I wonder if it might be helpful to construct a method that can be used to "rate" those who provide help on this list. This is something that is done on other comp lists, like http://www.experts-exchange.com/. I think some of the reasons for this are pretty transparent, but I suppose one reason is that one could decide to implement the advise of those with "superior" or "expert" levels. In other words, you can trust the advice of someone who is more experienced more than someone who is not. Currently, there is no way to discern who on this list is really an R expert and who is not. Of course, there is R core, but most people don't actually know who these people are (at least I surmise that to be true). If this is potentially useful, maybe one way to begin the development of such ratings is to allow the original poster to "rate" the level of help from those who responded. Maybe something like a very simple questionnaire on a likert-like scale that the original poster would respond to upon receiving help which would lead to the accumulation of points for the responders. Higher points would result in higher levels of expertise (e.g., novice, ..., wizaRd). Just a random thought. What do others think? Harold [[alternative HTML version deleted]]
Doran, Harold wrote:> Since R is open source and help may come from varied levels of > experience on R-Help, I wonder if it might be helpful to construct a > method that can be used to "rate" those who provide help on this list. > > This is something that is done on other comp lists, like > http://www.experts-exchange.com/. > > I think some of the reasons for this are pretty transparent, but I > suppose one reason is that one could decide to implement the advise of > those with "superior" or "expert" levels. In other words, you can trust > the advice of someone who is more experienced more than someone who is > not. Currently, there is no way to discern who on this list is really an > R expert and who is not. Of course, there is R core, but most people > don't actually know who these people are (at least I surmise that to be > true). > > If this is potentially useful, maybe one way to begin the development of > such ratings is to allow the original poster to "rate" the level of help > from those who responded. Maybe something like a very simple > questionnaire on a likert-like scale that the original poster would > respond to upon receiving help which would lead to the accumulation of > points for the responders. Higher points would result in higher levels > of expertise (e.g., novice, ..., wizaRd). > > Just a random thought. What do others think? > > Harold >Not necessary a bad idea but how do you take into account how much each responder is paid to respond? Frank -- Frank E Harrell Jr Professor and Chair School of Medicine Department of Biostatistics Vanderbilt University
A nice model might be http://www.workingwithrails.com/. It also suggests other possible measures of authority: * member of R core * packages written by/contributed to * R conference attended/presented at * contributer to wiki Hadley On 11/30/07, Doran, Harold <HDoran at air.org> wrote:> Since R is open source and help may come from varied levels of > experience on R-Help, I wonder if it might be helpful to construct a > method that can be used to "rate" those who provide help on this list. > > This is something that is done on other comp lists, like > http://www.experts-exchange.com/. > > I think some of the reasons for this are pretty transparent, but I > suppose one reason is that one could decide to implement the advise of > those with "superior" or "expert" levels. In other words, you can trust > the advice of someone who is more experienced more than someone who is > not. Currently, there is no way to discern who on this list is really an > R expert and who is not. Of course, there is R core, but most people > don't actually know who these people are (at least I surmise that to be > true). > > If this is potentially useful, maybe one way to begin the development of > such ratings is to allow the original poster to "rate" the level of help > from those who responded. Maybe something like a very simple > questionnaire on a likert-like scale that the original poster would > respond to upon receiving help which would lead to the accumulation of > points for the responders. Higher points would result in higher levels > of expertise (e.g., novice, ..., wizaRd). > > Just a random thought. What do others think? > > Harold > > > > > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > > ______________________________________________ > R-help at r-project.org mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. >-- http://had.co.nz/
>From: "Doran, Harold" <HDoran at air.org> >Date: 2007/11/30 Fri PM 02:12:36 CST >To: R Help <r-help at stat.math.ethz.ch> >Subject: [R] Rating R HelpersOf course, it's just MHO, but I think your suggestion is more work than neccesary because it becomes pretty obvious who the R-experts are once you've been on the list for more than 3 months. Also, the rating system wouldn't work well because the quality of the rating would depend on the experience of the person who asked the question. A beginner might think a particular answer is good while a more experienced person might think it was bad. Mark>Since R is open source and help may come from varied levels of >experience on R-Help, I wonder if it might be helpful to construct a >method that can be used to "rate" those who provide help on this list. > >This is something that is done on other comp lists, like >http://www.experts-exchange.com/. > >I think some of the reasons for this are pretty transparent, but I >suppose one reason is that one could decide to implement the advise of >those with "superior" or "expert" levels. In other words, you can trust >the advice of someone who is more experienced more than someone who is >not. Currently, there is no way to discern who on this list is really an >R expert and who is not. Of course, there is R core, but most people >don't actually know who these people are (at least I surmise that to be >true). > >If this is potentially useful, maybe one way to begin the development of >such ratings is to allow the original poster to "rate" the level of help >from those who responded. Maybe something like a very simple >questionnaire on a likert-like scale that the original poster would >respond to upon receiving help which would lead to the accumulation of >points for the responders. Higher points would result in higher levels >of expertise (e.g., novice, ..., wizaRd). > >Just a random thought. What do others think? > >Harold > > > > > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > >______________________________________________ >R-help at r-project.org mailing list >https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help >PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html >and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
Maybe I haven't been on the list long enough, but how bad is the R advice on this list? Is a rating system even necessary? As Mark Leeds pointed out, there is the issue that what a beginner thinks is good advice isn't what an expert thinks in good advice. There is also the converse, expert advice is sometimes quite confusing to beginners, but perfectly sensible to other experts. Doran, Harold brought next idea :> Since R is open source and help may come from varied levels of > experience on R-Help, I wonder if it might be helpful to construct a > method that can be used to "rate" those who provide help on this list. > > This is something that is done on other comp lists, like > http://www.experts-exchange.com/. > > I think some of the reasons for this are pretty transparent, but I > suppose one reason is that one could decide to implement the advise of > those with "superior" or "expert" levels. In other words, you can trust > the advice of someone who is more experienced more than someone who is > not. Currently, there is no way to discern who on this list is really an > R expert and who is not. Of course, there is R core, but most people > don't actually know who these people are (at least I surmise that to be > true). > > If this is potentially useful, maybe one way to begin the development of > such ratings is to allow the original poster to "rate" the level of help > from those who responded. Maybe something like a very simple > questionnaire on a likert-like scale that the original poster would > respond to upon receiving help which would lead to the accumulation of > points for the responders. Higher points would result in higher levels > of expertise (e.g., novice, ..., wizaRd). > > Just a random thought. What do others think? > > Harold > > > > > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > > ______________________________________________ > R-help at r-project.org mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
This seems a little impractical to me. People respond so much at random and most only tackle questions with which they feel comfortable. As it's not a competition in any sense, it's going to be hard to rank people in any effective way. But suppose you succeed in doing so, then what? To me a much more urgent initiative is some kind of user online review system for packages, even something as simple as that used by Amazon.com has for customer review of books. I think the need for this is rather urgent, in fact. Most packages are very good, but I regret to say some are pretty inefficient and others downright dangerous. You don't want to discourage people from submitting their work to CRAN, but at the same time you do want some mechanism that allows users to relate their experience with it, good or bad. Bill Venables CSIRO Laboratories PO Box 120, Cleveland, 4163 AUSTRALIA Office Phone (email preferred): +61 7 3826 7251 Fax (if absolutely necessary): +61 7 3826 7304 Mobile: +61 4 8819 4402 Home Phone: +61 7 3286 7700 mailto:Bill.Venables at csiro.au http://www.cmis.csiro.au/bill.venables/ -----Original Message----- From: r-help-bounces at r-project.org [mailto:r-help-bounces at r-project.org] On Behalf Of Doran, Harold Sent: Saturday, 1 December 2007 6:13 AM To: R Help Subject: [R] Rating R Helpers Since R is open source and help may come from varied levels of experience on R-Help, I wonder if it might be helpful to construct a method that can be used to "rate" those who provide help on this list. This is something that is done on other comp lists, like http://www.experts-exchange.com/. I think some of the reasons for this are pretty transparent, but I suppose one reason is that one could decide to implement the advise of those with "superior" or "expert" levels. In other words, you can trust the advice of someone who is more experienced more than someone who is not. Currently, there is no way to discern who on this list is really an R expert and who is not. Of course, there is R core, but most people don't actually know who these people are (at least I surmise that to be true). If this is potentially useful, maybe one way to begin the development of such ratings is to allow the original poster to "rate" the level of help from those who responded. Maybe something like a very simple questionnaire on a likert-like scale that the original poster would respond to upon receiving help which would lead to the accumulation of points for the responders. Higher points would result in higher levels of expertise (e.g., novice, ..., wizaRd). Just a random thought. What do others think? Harold [[alternative HTML version deleted]] ______________________________________________ R-help at r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help PLEASE do read the posting guide http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code.
Package review is a nice idea. But you raise a worrying point. Are any of the 'downright dangerous' packages on CRAN? If so, er... why?>>> <Bill.Venables at csiro.au> 12/01/07 7:21 AM >>> >I think the need for this is rather urgent, in fact. Most packages are >very good, but I regret to say some are pretty inefficient and others >downright dangerous.
Good morning, I read (and occasionally post to) R-Help through nabble.com (http://www.nabble.com/R-f13819.html) and there is a rating system there by post rather than by author. Message boards (e.g. www.boards.ie amongst many others) note on each message how many posts that a person has made since they joined the board. Best Regards, Sean Doran, Harold wrote:> > Since R is open source and help may come from varied levels of > experience on R-Help, I wonder if it might be helpful to construct a > method that can be used to "rate" those who provide help on this list. > > This is something that is done on other comp lists, like > http://www.experts-exchange.com/. > > I think some of the reasons for this are pretty transparent, but I > suppose one reason is that one could decide to implement the advise of > those with "superior" or "expert" levels. In other words, you can trust > the advice of someone who is more experienced more than someone who is > not. Currently, there is no way to discern who on this list is really an > R expert and who is not. Of course, there is R core, but most people > don't actually know who these people are (at least I surmise that to be > true). > > If this is potentially useful, maybe one way to begin the development of > such ratings is to allow the original poster to "rate" the level of help > from those who responded. Maybe something like a very simple > questionnaire on a likert-like scale that the original poster would > respond to upon receiving help which would lead to the accumulation of > points for the responders. Higher points would result in higher levels > of expertise (e.g., novice, ..., wizaRd). > > Just a random thought. What do others think? > > Harold > > > > > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > > ______________________________________________ > R-help at r-project.org mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-help > PLEASE do read the posting guide > http://www.R-project.org/posting-guide.html > and provide commented, minimal, self-contained, reproducible code. > >-- View this message in context: http://www.nabble.com/Rating-R-Helpers-tf4925550.html#a14167605 Sent from the R help mailing list archive at Nabble.com.