| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Quantifying questions asked by members is counterproductive and impacts the quality of Kudoz Thread poster: Jackie Doble
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Jackie Doble
France
Local time: 06:40
Member (2011)
French to English
I want to propose a discussion topic which I would like Proz.com to take note of:
Namely, that I find the fact that the site quantifies the number of questions a translator asks in their profile makes for a smaller database of terms, which in the end is not at all helpful for users.
I perfectly agree that the number of points EARNED for answering a question should be quantified, but I feel that quantifying the questions asked is counter productive.
Personally, I have to be R... See more I want to propose a discussion topic which I would like Proz.com to take note of:
Namely, that I find the fact that the site quantifies the number of questions a translator asks in their profile makes for a smaller database of terms, which in the end is not at all helpful for users.
I perfectly agree that the number of points EARNED for answering a question should be quantified, but I feel that quantifying the questions asked is counter productive.
Personally, I have to be REALLY desperate to ask a question in Kudoz. And I can't remember the last time I did (2 or 3 years ago?). This is a shame because, in general the answers on Proz are more professional and accurate than Wordreference.
Yet when I search for a term, it is not often that I do find it in Kudoz, since the database is much smaller than Wordreference.
Surely the purpose of the term search is to be as complete as possible to help translators find the right term and not penalise them any time they want help?
There are plenty of indicators on each person's profile to help suppliers assess the quality of the translator. Surely, we can remove the questions asked indicator to beef up the Kudos data base?
I would appreciate the thoughts of other members and Proz.com as well. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:40
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Jackie Doble wrote:
..... I have to be REALLY desperate to ask a question in Kudoz. And I can't remember the last time I did...
Same here - but although Proz is always my last port of call when seeking the meaning of a term, it often points me in a good direction.
What I didn't realise is that people are getting points for ASKING questions. Can this really be true? If so it must stop.
[Edited at 2016-10-08 14:31 GMT]
| | | | Jackie Doble
France
Local time: 06:40
Member (2011)
French to English
TOPIC STARTER
no, you don't get points, it is just listed in your public profile how many questions you have asked
and also the number of answers you have given
so people can compare
| | | | Liviu-Lee Roth
United States
Local time: 00:40
Romanian to English
+ ...
| from another point of view | Oct 8, 2016 |
I think that sometimes it is a good indicator about the asker. In my pair, there is a translator who asked 378 questions and answered to two. That tells me a lot! In my opinion, it should be a balance between questions asked and answers given; that proves that you are an active participant in the community, not just a beneficiary.
Lee
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| Questions asked is an excellent indicator | Oct 8, 2016 |
The number of questions asked versus the number of questions answered is an excellent indicator to judge if a person is a leecher or a person contributing to the community. I am not at all interested to support leechers, i. e. I might stop answering questions completely if this information was removed.
Might sound harsh, but it is the result of years of experience in answering KudoZ questions.
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Siegfried Armbruster wrote:
The number of questions asked versus the number of questions answered is an excellent indicator to judge if a person is a leecher or a person contributing to the community.
... though I'm not sure I'd go quite so far as to call them 'leeches'. One of the roles of ProZ is a community, and in any community you have some give and take and each member takes responsibility for their own contribution (or otherwise). I don't know how much potential clients will actually [be sufficiently aware to] read into the questions asked/questions answered ratio, but I would say it's definitely legitimate information.
| | | | Jackie Doble
France
Local time: 06:40
Member (2011)
French to English
TOPIC STARTER | so Kudoz has become a profile assessment tool | Oct 8, 2016 |
....and not a database of terms.
Surely it is better to foster a cooperative community than a competitive one, where people scorn those who need more help? You always have the choice not to reply.
Also no-one has addressed the main point of my post, in that this system results in a much smaller database, which is a lot less helpful.
[Edited at 2016-10-08 16:25 GMT]
| | | | | Yes, it is and it always was | Oct 8, 2016 |
Jackie Doble wrote:
Kudoz has become a profile assessment tool
....and not a database of terms.
Surely it is better to foster a cooperative community than a competitive one, where people scorn those who need more help?
The KudoZ points are one of the main factors used in the ranking of the ProZ directory.
KudoZ questions asked and answered have been used by potential clients for many years, and I have never considered it a problem.
"cooperative" is such a nice word, but asking 5000 questions and not answering 1 has nothing to do with cooperative and there a quite a few colleagues who consider constantly asking questions outside of one’s specialty field or even outside your language pairs not being professional at all.
"Leecher" or "leeching" are just terms to describe a behaviour, see:
In computing and specifically Internet, a leech is one who benefits, usually deliberately, from others' information or effort but does not offer anything in return, or makes only token offerings in an attempt to avoid being called a leech. In economics, this type of behaviour is called "free riding" and is associated with the free rider problem.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leech_(computing)
Believe me, nobody here scorns those who need more help, but with >800 000 members, there are people who do not just need more help, they are abusing the system. And the number of questions asked helps to identify them.
[Edited at 2016-10-08 18:05 GMT]
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| I don't understand what you mean by this. | Oct 9, 2016 |
Jackie Doble wrote:
I find the fact that the site quantifies the number of questions a translator asks in their profile makes for a smaller database of terms, which in the end is not at all helpful for users.
| | | | jyuan_us 
United States
Local time: 00:40
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
Jackie Doble wrote:
I perfectly agree that the number of points EARNED for answering a question should be quantified, but I feel that quantifying the questions asked is counter productive.
How do you quantify a number? If someone has got 500 points, how would you quantify it? Also, what is "the number of points" EARNED? Again if someone has got 500 points, do you consider 500 as points or number of points?
Jackie Doble wrote:
I perfectly agree that the number of points EARNED for answering a question should be quantified, but I feel that quantifying the questions asked is counter productive.
Did you imply that the number of points EARNED for answering a question should be quantified in the future, or it has already been quantified?
[Edited at 2016-10-09 04:04 GMT]
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 00:40
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| More questions | Oct 9, 2016 |
Jackie Doble wrote:
And I can't remember the last time I did (2 or 3 years ago?). This is a shame because, in general the answers on Proz are more professional and accurate than Wordreference.
Did you imply that the fact you have asked too few questions is a shame? Did you also imply that because in general the answers on Proz are more professional and accurate than Wordreference, it is a shame not to ask a lot of questions on Proz?
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 00:40
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| Who are/have been penalised? In What way? | Oct 9, 2016 |
Jackie Doble wrote:
Surely the purpose of the term search is to be as complete as possible to help translators find the right term and not penalise them any time they want help?
Who are/have been penalised? In What way?
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jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 00:40
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| Who are the suppliers? | Oct 9, 2016 |
Jackie Doble wrote:
There are plenty of indicators on each person's profile to help suppliers assess the quality of the translator.
To me the translators are the suppliers.
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 00:40
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| In what way will removing the questions asked indicator beef up the Kudos data base? | Oct 9, 2016 |
Jackie Doble wrote:
Surely, we can remove the questions asked indicator to beef up the Kudos data base?
In what way will removing the questions asked indicator beef up the Kudos data base?
| | | | jyuan_us
United States
Local time: 00:40
Member (2005)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| What does this mean? | Oct 9, 2016 |
Jackie Doble wrote:
Surely the purpose of the term search is to be as complete as possible to help translators find the right term?
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