How many "Agrees" should one give? Thread poster: British Diana
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Could anyone please give me some advice on something that has cropped up in KudoZ recently?
Here is the rule about not submitting more than one answer per question :
3.3 In general, an answerer should submit no more than one answer per question. Occasional exceptions are allowed, but users are not permitted to make a habit of providing multiple answers to single "help" KudoZ questions.
However, I couldn't find any rule to say how many "Agrees" the peers m... See more Could anyone please give me some advice on something that has cropped up in KudoZ recently?
Here is the rule about not submitting more than one answer per question :
3.3 In general, an answerer should submit no more than one answer per question. Occasional exceptions are allowed, but users are not permitted to make a habit of providing multiple answers to single "help" KudoZ questions.
However, I couldn't find any rule to say how many "Agrees" the peers may make when they are given a choice of, say, five answers, four of which they think are good ones.
Should the peer (have to) decide on just one answer, to which he or she gives an "Agree" (in a way like voting for that particular suggestion) or can (s)he express approval to more than one answer by giving several "Agrees"?
If there isn't a rule on this point, what do you folks think is the best thing to do? ▲ Collapse
| | | | Sheila Wilson 
Spain
Local time: 11:33
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
| As you see fit | Mar 28, 2010 |
IMO, we should all do as we see fit, to help the asker the best we can.
If two answerers have posted very close synonyms it would presumably be useful (and normal) to agree with both. However, you have to use your "agree"s carefully so others don't think you're just agreeing with anything to gather BrowniZ.
I tend to agree to just one answer normally, and more in exceptional cases, particularly in my monoligual category and in marketing questions where there is no "righ... See more IMO, we should all do as we see fit, to help the asker the best we can.
If two answerers have posted very close synonyms it would presumably be useful (and normal) to agree with both. However, you have to use your "agree"s carefully so others don't think you're just agreeing with anything to gather BrowniZ.
I tend to agree to just one answer normally, and more in exceptional cases, particularly in my monoligual category and in marketing questions where there is no "right" translation. ▲ Collapse
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Also in the case of very similar synonyms and with several correct replies, there is always one you prefer above another, so in my opinion one agree is adequate, although I give two on rare occasions.
You don't seem to ask about Disagrees. Every now and then, several translators completely misunderstand the question in a matter you probably know well first-hand, and in that case all wrong proposals should be disagreed with just so that the asker does not get confused or mesmerised b... See more Also in the case of very similar synonyms and with several correct replies, there is always one you prefer above another, so in my opinion one agree is adequate, although I give two on rare occasions.
You don't seem to ask about Disagrees. Every now and then, several translators completely misunderstand the question in a matter you probably know well first-hand, and in that case all wrong proposals should be disagreed with just so that the asker does not get confused or mesmerised by a wrong, though good-looking, proposal. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Thomas Pfann
United Kingdom
Local time: 11:33
Member (2006)
English to German
+ ...
| As many as you like | Mar 28, 2010 |
I fully agree with Sheila: "We should all do as we see fit, to help the asker the best we can".
It often happens that I agree with more than one answer - in particular when a question requires more of a creative input and gets many good answers.
Also, you may have given your Agree to one answer already when another one comes in, which you like just as much or even more. Wouldn't it be unfair to withdraw your Agree to the first answer? After all, it is not that you sudde... See more I fully agree with Sheila: "We should all do as we see fit, to help the asker the best we can".
It often happens that I agree with more than one answer - in particular when a question requires more of a creative input and gets many good answers.
Also, you may have given your Agree to one answer already when another one comes in, which you like just as much or even more. Wouldn't it be unfair to withdraw your Agree to the first answer? After all, it is not that you suddenly "disagree" with that answer; it is just that there is another answer which you agree with, too.
In a case where there are, say, four answers to a question and all of them are correct and good, then I usually don't bother to agree with any. If, however, a question gets four answers, two of which are very good, one is "ok" (ie. not wrong, but nothing noteworthy either), and one is outright wrong, then I might give two Agrees and one Disagree.
It might be a good idea to add a short comment with your Agrees, though. You might agree with answer A for this reason and with answer B for another reason. If that's the case, say so and it will become clearer why you awarded Agrees to two different answers. Others might agree with you and the asker might even be able to "pick and mix" elements from both answers.
Askers often complain about not being able to split the points between several answers, but at least we can show our appreciation by agreeing with good answers. When answering a question I actually do feel appreciated when I see that people agree with my answer - regardless of whether in the end I "get the points" or not.
[Edited at 2010-03-28 21:06 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Brian Young
United States
Local time: 03:33
Danish to English
I agree (that word again!) that there are no rules. I have on one occasion posted an answer, and then moments later found that someone else has posted an even better one, so I agreed with that answer. I normally try to leave a comment as well when I post an "agree". I try not to post "disagrees" but I do feel that it is appropriate to do so if you are sure that the asker is being led astray. It's not a beauty contest, and the whole points thing could be discarded as far as I am concerned. We are... See more I agree (that word again!) that there are no rules. I have on one occasion posted an answer, and then moments later found that someone else has posted an even better one, so I agreed with that answer. I normally try to leave a comment as well when I post an "agree". I try not to post "disagrees" but I do feel that it is appropriate to do so if you are sure that the asker is being led astray. It's not a beauty contest, and the whole points thing could be discarded as far as I am concerned. We are here to help each other, even though sometimes you do get the feeling it has just become an online dictionary. I almost never post URL's or quotes. I answer questions if and when I know the answer. If I have to look something up then I feel that the asker should do that on their own. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Samuel Murray
Netherlands
Local time: 12:33
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
| As many as possible | Mar 28, 2010 |
British Diana wrote:
Should the peer (have to) decide on just one answer, to which he or she gives an "Agree" (in a way like voting for that particular suggestion) or can (s)he express approval to more than one answer by giving several "Agrees"?
One should not regard the "Agree" feature as a way of voting for the best answer. If you agree with an answer, then agree with it. If there are 10 answers and you agree with all of them, then press that button ten times. If you can, write something to explain why you agree.
| | | | | From the FAQs | Mar 28, 2010 |
4.1 - Can I agree with more than one answer to a question?
Yes. You are encouraged to agree with as many answers as you consider correct, and disagree with as many answers as you consider incorrect.
http://www.proz.com/faq/2779#2779
Regards,
Enrique
| | | | British Diana
Germany
Local time: 12:33
German to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | That has (almost) cleared it up for me | Mar 29, 2010 |
Thank you, Enrique, for posting the reference to the FAQs entry, which I suppose I can regard as the "official" policy on this matter. And my thanks to the other posters for giving your opinions.
Having read the thread thus far, I will be a bit more generous with my "Agrees" in future, for I used to rarely give more than one. I mean, some time ago in my language pair there was a question for which 18 different answers came in. It was a creative theme (a book title) and there was no ... See more Thank you, Enrique, for posting the reference to the FAQs entry, which I suppose I can regard as the "official" policy on this matter. And my thanks to the other posters for giving your opinions.
Having read the thread thus far, I will be a bit more generous with my "Agrees" in future, for I used to rarely give more than one. I mean, some time ago in my language pair there was a question for which 18 different answers came in. It was a creative theme (a book title) and there was no shortage of witty and pithy imput. I would have liked to give more than one sign of support here, but at the time I didn't think one ought to.
The only difficulty I can see that might occur when more people give more Agrees as a matter of course is that the Asker will find it more difficult to ascertain which answer the majority of the peers prefer. As long as each peer gives only one "vote" (and I still think that in a way one is voting for a particular suggestion) the Asker can tell immediately how many people "agree" to each one. If somebody gives, say, four out of five suggestions an Agree, it is more difficult for the Asker to weigh up the support.
Yes, I know there is no need to give the KudoZ points to the peer with the heighest "blue" number (=sum of Agrees) next to their name, but it does give an indication of the tendency within the peer group and many Askers use these numbers as a guideline.
Thus I still think being too lavish with "Agrees" is not the point of the exercise. ▲ Collapse
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| One agree only, or an agree for every good answer? | Mar 29, 2010 |
For me, it's like in school - the different approaches of teachers to the problem. One teacher says: "Today, they're all quite good, I am teaching 30 children, so we'll have 26 children achieving a *2* (in the German ranking between 1=excellent and 6=performance poor and absolutely unsatisfactory) and four of them will even reach *1*. His or her collegue is more rules-oriented, and he/she says: we have some statistics on pupils performance, and the evaluation of the test looks has to fit into th... See more For me, it's like in school - the different approaches of teachers to the problem. One teacher says: "Today, they're all quite good, I am teaching 30 children, so we'll have 26 children achieving a *2* (in the German ranking between 1=excellent and 6=performance poor and absolutely unsatisfactory) and four of them will even reach *1*. His or her collegue is more rules-oriented, and he/she says: we have some statistics on pupils performance, and the evaluation of the test looks has to fit into this: once *1*, four *2*, 8 children performing with *3*, seven with *4*, five with *5* and five with *6* - no matter, if they were a class with an excellent overall performance. I dont't agree with that. If there are 5 good answers, I'll agree to all of them, with an *agree*. And the askers, in my opinion, are in need of the constructive and creative ideas, and good explanations to understand, they could't make use of the votes if they would lack understanding *why*!
I posted already in German:
Was wir hier diskutieren, gehörte eigentlich in ein Forum. Ich will auch mal nachlesen, was die Regeln sagen. Aber: es ist doch wie in der Schule: ein Lehrer sagt *heute sind aber alle gut, bei 30 Schülern habe ich 4x1 und 26x2*. Der/die andere: die statistische Verteilung gibt folgendes vor: 1x1 und 4x2 und 8x3 und 7x4 und 5x5 und 5x6. Ich denke Objektivität ist o.k. und die Frager brauchen nur die Vorschläge, nicht die Abstimmung. ▲ Collapse
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