Questions tagged [answers]

This tag is for questions about answers: how to answer, whether specific answers are appropriate, and so forth.

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3
votes
1answer
76 views

How do I counter inadequacies in answers to my question if more than a comment is needed?

This concerns answers to my question Biden 'fake' interview: video of Biden's hands appearing the wrong side of microphones The most up-voted answer gives as evidence a Snopes article Was ...
2
votes
1answer
66 views

If a question may not have much direct research, are answers that infer from related evidence acceptable?

In a recent question, I left a comment saying that the actual topic of the question probably doesn't have much direct research, but that answers which provide research in similar areas could be ...
5
votes
1answer
99 views

Why do I have a question ban after posting a well reccived question?

I recently had a question ban, because I asked two poorly formulated questions. I waited until the ban had expired, and then asked another question. This was relatively well received, with quite a few ...
1
vote
1answer
92 views

Why do we lose a reputation if we down-vote a not-useful answer to our post?

I have read somewhere (I don't remember where) that the OPs lose a reputation if they down-vote a bad answer to their post. Why should it be in this way? A low-quality and sometimes incorrect answer ...
1
vote
1answer
69 views

Why was this answer converted into a comment?

About an hour ago, an answer was posted to this question by a 1-rep user. It wasn't the best answer, but to me it clearly was an attempt at answering the question. While it referenced the existing ...
0
votes
1answer
54 views

Are answers based on personal (but documented) experience acceptable on skeptics?

I would like to know if I could contribute by either asking questions or supplying answers that are based on my personal but documented experience. Obviously, I cannot prove anything scientifically, ...
1
vote
1answer
55 views

Are people with the trusted users privilege allowed to vote to delete unreferenced answers?

Diamond moderators regularly delete answers on the grounds that they are unreferenced. (Ironically enough, I can find a FAQ stating that answers must be referenced, but couldn't find any post saying ...
0
votes
1answer
53 views

Is creating a figure based on referenced data original research?

I was thinking about creating and adding a figure to one of my answers. I'd use data from a referenced source to create that figure, which would probably take the form of a bar chart or something ...
11
votes
1answer
183 views

Accepting “we don't have enough research to know” answers

I asked a question last week, and the only answer so far gives a summary of "[t]his is emerging science, and it is too soon to know one way or the other". It is a well-written answer which lays a lot ...
4
votes
6answers
1k views

Answering “Can you achieve immortality through yoga?”

Re: Can you achieve immortality through yoga? One approach to answering this question is to use the statistical evidence regarding the Maximum Reported Age at Death (MRAD): https://www.nature.com/...
3
votes
2answers
162 views

Answer moved to comment by mod

I joined a community today because I had something unique to add to a question. There already was a decent answer, but mine was talking about points not mentioned in it. While my answer was a bit ...
0
votes
0answers
51 views

Interpretation, misleading claims, and literalism [duplicate]

I have looked through the various questions and answers on meta regarding this, and have not found anything solid. The nearest can be found here, and the mod's answer is at odds with the highest-voted ...
1
vote
1answer
30 views

At which level of digging do we decide that a source is acceptable?

Consider the following, if given as evidence in an answer: In a 2005 Example.com interview of renowned ornithologist George Credibleopoulos, George explicitly stated that snipes do indeed migrate ...
5
votes
1answer
239 views

What makes a good “the answer is unknown” answer?

In some cases the status of a claim is objectively unknown, e.g. if research indicates that we definitively do not know the answer, or if research leads to no information one way or the other (these ...
135
votes
2answers
8k views

Sorry, but we don't care about your political opinions

This is a reminder of an issue that has come up before - around the last US election: Are political comments a problem? If your comment is little more than tribal markings to indicate the US ...
-1
votes
2answers
237 views

Answer on my post should not have been deleted

I posted this question: Does Twitter censor content with a double standard? To which K Dog answered. There's reasons to down vote the answer, but it was a legitimate answer nonetheless. Though it is ...
1
vote
1answer
50 views

Answer was deleted - how can I challenge the reason?

I had an answer deleted with the reason given that it "didn't answer the question" which I disagree with. Is there a way I can respond/chat with the person who deleted it to question their reasoning? ...
1
vote
1answer
54 views

What should we do when the accepted answer is incorrect?

I was lurking around Skeptics.SE recently, as I usually do, and I found a question that triggered some thinking on my side. Let me put out a (not-so-much) hypothetical question. Let's suppose we ...
0
votes
1answer
66 views

Are questions about Hillary, Bill and Donald considered off-topic, at the moment?

I saw some contentious activity (questions, comments) earlier today, e.g., a user that wanted to verify the taped conversation of Trump's words about what he did / does to women because of his fame. ...
4
votes
3answers
296 views

Citing holocaust denial sites in answers is regarded as acceptable by moderators

This answer cites the Institute for Historical Review, a holocaust denial organisation. I flagged the answer, and got declined - a moderator reviewed your flag, but found no evidence to support it ...
1
vote
2answers
94 views

Can a negatively voted down answer be checked as the right one by the owner?

This question is answered by the same OP and although it is negatively voted down, the owner has accepted his own answer! Can these type of answers be removed or deleted even though the owner has ...
1
vote
1answer
98 views

Is saying “Woo!” makes apples falling from the sky? (what is the right answer to the groundless hypothesis?)

Is saying "Woo!" makes apples falling from the sky? This is obviously the wrong assumption, but most likely you will not be able to find any direct and trusted references that it does not. How the ...
1
vote
0answers
43 views

Do We Answer Claims or the Arguments They Come From?

I'm new to Skeptics.SE, coming from other .SE sites. Questions here often seem to have two components: a broad argument and a specific claim. My understanding is that a good answer authenticates or ...
10
votes
3answers
372 views

How should “conspiracy theory” claims be addressed?

(Related, but not quite the same as, How should unfalsifiable claims be handled?) What standards should be used when attempting to debunk "conspiracy theory" claims? Consider as an example Has the ...
2
votes
1answer
58 views

Bannered answer clean up (2011-2012)

I've deleted the following old answers as unreferenced as abandoned. I've only removed answers which had absolutely no references, or completely inadequate references (e.g. "the sun is yellow [ref: ...
2
votes
1answer
222 views

What claims can be debunked or confirmed by pure logic or theory?

Following Do we apply scientific skepticism at Skeptics.SE? I'm left with a curiosity, but I'd like to learn more. Can you help me out? According to some we are not using all tools allowed in ...
1
vote
1answer
66 views

Have quality standards for answers been increasing over time?

Have the quality standards for answers been increasing over time? I'm not so much referring to the average quality of what gets posted as an answer (there's no stopping for new inexperienced novice ...
-1
votes
1answer
107 views

What is the stance on biased answers?

What is the stance of this website and community concerning answers that are 1. accepted and 2. biased? If the answer has no credible sources to confirm a claim then it is by definition a bias ...
2
votes
1answer
113 views

To what extent can OPs discredit sources in advance?

Current policy is that the reference/evidence given in an answer should be 'better' than the reference/evidence being questioned. To what extent should an OP be allowed to discredit (in their ...
1
vote
1answer
33 views

What to do with an answer which is bad except for one line where it gives a good source?

In this answer everything is bad, everything except for the last line which is a link to a good source is unrelated to the question. The first part is a rant against the NRA, and the second part is ...
2
votes
3answers
50 views

In answers are there connections between formatting, content, and neutrality?

What do you think of, how do practice, using bold text in answers? Or even UPPER CASE text? Here are recent comments (the bold text formatting, added to them for emphasis, is mine): All I can say ...
2
votes
1answer
51 views

Is my answer acceptable?

I would like to know if my answer at https://skeptics.stackexchange.com/a/23856/21485 is acceptable for this site. This is the first post I have made here. I greatly appreciate the existence of this ...
22
votes
1answer
3k views

FAQ: What are theoretical answers?

Answers which are wholly based on a theoretical model are generally downvoted and may be deleted. What are the characteristics that (dis-)qualify an answer as theoretical?
0
votes
1answer
117 views

Are answers relying on biased first-person supplied subjective information valid?

For a claim in the form of: Is the (potentially negative) fact F about a person P true? Is the following answer's conclusion considered valid? (and if not, what would be the conclusion that is ...
2
votes
2answers
75 views

Are answers about efficacy based on logic instead of efficacy testing valid?

For a question in the form of: Is XYZ effective in achieving goal ABC? Is it valid to post an answer in the form of: NO. This authoritative source lists N mechanisms (M1,... MN) for achieving goal ...
17
votes
1answer
1k views

FAQ: What constitutes original research?

Answers which are wholly based on "original research" are generally downvoted and may be deleted. What are the characteristics that (dis-)qualify an answer as original research? How should these ...
1
vote
3answers
83 views

What is the best answer to an unstudied “pseudo-scientific” claim?

Sorry if this one has been discussed before; if it has, I could not find it (although it is related to several previous discussions. If we get a question like "Does homeopathy work?", we can ...
3
votes
1answer
75 views

Is Wikipedia a valid source? [duplicate]

For most professional citations, Wikipedia is frowned upon, but this answer defies all of those conventions.
-2
votes
1answer
70 views

Answer “deleted” on thread and would like to get it undeleted

This is the thread: Does standing as opposed to sitting or lying improve brain activity? Here is the edited answer: 0 down vote "Research suggests that walking may not make you a genius but it ...
1
vote
2answers
88 views

New User - I'm a bit unclear about anecdotal answers

I've lurked here quite a bit and have read Is anecdotal evidence sufficient for answers?. I've only answered one question, and I'm still not sure if my answer is appropriate for the site. So I'm ...
2
votes
0answers
22 views

Where's the link error from?

I've noticed several times that someone will post a poorly researched answer, and someone will leave a comment that says: (e.g. here,here ,here, here, and here). Welcome to Skeptics Stack Exchange! ...
5
votes
1answer
98 views

Why my answer was deleted?

My answer has been deleted with a pretty strange reason: Did planes crash into the WTC on 9-11? This is a theoretical answer, but we expect answers to be based on facts - not to make a ...
0
votes
2answers
65 views

Posting questions from answers written in Open Office

I have written a very nice answer to a question in Open Office and would now like to post it but the copy paste function does not work properly. I'm having problems with inserting tables. Any help ...
13
votes
5answers
477 views

Can we stop being rude?

I gave a controversial answer to a recent question. In all response, in the comments, I have been: called a douchebag been insulted for being a SE employee been called out as "admitting I don't know ...
6
votes
2answers
310 views

May I cite a single article?

If I think a single research is meticulous enough to clarify a subject, is it right to only cite that one article? The one I'm interested in references previous work, so there would be different ...
3
votes
2answers
220 views

Topic of the week: Discontinued

As proposed by Sklivvz in this question we are going to be running a topic of the week. The main aim of this is three-fold To focus the community on specific topics to increase the number of ...
6
votes
2answers
79 views

Is it time to do another topic of the week?

Before we graduated, I proposed a "topic of the week" to focus the community on specific topics to increase the number of questions on the site. Asking questions is always healthy but I think we ...
-2
votes
3answers
122 views

Should we increase the penalty for downvoted answer

If an answer is downvoted, the person who wrote it gets only -2 rep, while an upvote gives +10 rep, which means that in order to negate the upvotes and encorage the poster to delete/edit their answer ...
2
votes
1answer
46 views

How to prove or disprove claims of existence of certain laws?

Recently i asked Did Australia ban small-breasts pornography?. I'm interested, how should rumors about laws in different countries should be proved or disproved? What is the recommended method for a ...
3
votes
1answer
61 views

Is there a maximum amount of reputation one can earn from an answer?

Just noticed that I got a couple of upvotes on my "torture" answer, but no points were awarded. Is there a maximum number of points you can get over the life of an answer (or question)? Just found ...

 
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