The title says it all. Is there a way to take a poll on Maths Stack Exchange? Is a poll an acceptable question?
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asked Aug 12, 2016 at 8:36
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$\begingroup$ Math.SE is a site for learning mathematics at all levels. We seek to collect and curate excellent content in the form of Questions and Answers. A poll does not in itself provide reasoned mathematical argument, so it's unclear how you would expect one to meet community standards. $\endgroup$– hardmathAug 12, 2016 at 13:22
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$\begingroup$ @hardmath it is conceivable that some maths question might be a matter of opinion. In fact it may be a valid, material question to ask to what extent a something is preferred or more widely used to another thing. For example. If we wanted to know if more mathematicians use pencils or pens, polling the audience might be the most accurte way of achieving an accurate answer. $\endgroup$– samerivertwiceAug 12, 2016 at 13:25
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5$\begingroup$ However "valid" or "material" you may believe the question of whether mathematicians predominantly use pencils or pens, it is not a question with a strong connection to a mathematical topic. My guess is that asking about this on the main site would be promptly closed as "primarily opinion based". Real mathematics is done with proofs, not by taking a vote. $\endgroup$– hardmathAug 12, 2016 at 13:32
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$\begingroup$ I had thought something in the FAQ spoke specifically against polls, but I can't find anything like that now. One might argue against polls as questions that don't really have answers. $\endgroup$– rschwiebAug 12, 2016 at 16:33
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1$\begingroup$ @rschwieb This is as close as I can find. It doesn't say "poll" explicitly, but it explicitly rules out discussion-style posts and posts where every answer is equally valid. $\endgroup$– user296602Aug 12, 2016 at 17:59
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4$\begingroup$ It's not clear to me why this question is downvoted so much. It just asks as a support question if something, not overly bizarre or unusual, is possible/acceptable. $\endgroup$– quid ModAug 12, 2016 at 18:06
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1$\begingroup$ @quid: The question itself is pretty narrow and can be read as asking if something is possible/acceptable, but the OP's comments lend themselves to advocacy of implementing/allowing such Polls. I suspect the down-votes are offered in disagreement with that advocacy (though I did not down vote). $\endgroup$– hardmathAug 12, 2016 at 18:12
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$\begingroup$ @quid Vote this comment up if you think with all the downvotes I got I might as well just have posted a poll on Math StackExchange without asking, and found out that way instead. $\endgroup$– samerivertwiceAug 12, 2016 at 18:33
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1$\begingroup$ @hardmath yes, but, OP also rather quickly accepted the answer telling it is not acceptable.// Robert Frost: no I think it is still better to ask here. $\endgroup$– quid ModAug 12, 2016 at 18:44
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$\begingroup$ @RobertFrost: While down votes on meta are often used to denote disagreement with a suggestion (and I agree with quid, that is not what your post amounts to), even so it has no effect on your Math.SE reputation. In this sense it is much better to be down voted on Meta than on Main. $\endgroup$– hardmathAug 12, 2016 at 18:48
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1$\begingroup$ BTW there exists (poll) tag here on meta. You can have a look what kinds of polls have been asked here. $\endgroup$– Martin SleziakAug 13, 2016 at 7:37
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1$\begingroup$ Ok, this is the general maths stack rather than the statistics one, but I would except even non-statistician mathematicians to have a basic awareness that self-selecting polls are virtually useless. $\endgroup$– Peter TaylorAug 26, 2016 at 10:42
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$\begingroup$ @PeterTaylor A good point but fairly relIable deductions about can still be made from a self-selecting poll, regarding matters that require a very low balance of evidence in order to achieve the required confidence. For example, a hypothesis that polls are universally unacceptable could be eliminated by minimal responses stating polls are acceptable. $\endgroup$– samerivertwiceAug 26, 2016 at 13:09
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3 Answers
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You can post a question, with several answers asking people to vote accordingly.
This is relatively acceptable on meta (although a discussion should be had first). If I would see something like that on the main site, I'd immediately downvote, close and then delete (and maybe flag to get the process done even faster). And I'm guessing I'm not the only one.
answered Aug 12, 2016 at 8:42
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$\begingroup$ Thanks. What would be your grounds for closing and deleting? $\endgroup$ Aug 12, 2016 at 8:45
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$\begingroup$ It sounds like you would down vote irrespective of whether it showed research effort, was clear and useful. Is that correct? $\endgroup$ Aug 12, 2016 at 8:48
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2$\begingroup$ If I were a regular user I would vote to close the question (if in main) as primarily opinion-based. As a mod I would either wait for the first flag or close it as such right away, depending. The question could well be very interesting to poll users about, but it doesn't mesh at all with the SE model. I could see it work in meta, if it were on-topic here. $\endgroup$ Aug 12, 2016 at 9:55
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5$\begingroup$ @Robert: Because I think that poll questions should be disallowed on the site. This is not Facebook, and it is not Twitter, and not a forum. It's a Q&A website about mathematics. $\endgroup$– Asaf Karagila ModAug 12, 2016 at 9:57
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3$\begingroup$ @Jyrki: Even on meta there is a history of people posting polls without previous discussion, and it is usually a very poorly received action. Amassing downvotes and criticism. So even on meta, treading lightly when it comes to polls is probably a good idea. $\endgroup$– Asaf Karagila ModAug 12, 2016 at 10:01
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Vote this answer up, if you think a poll is not an acceptable question.
answered Aug 12, 2016 at 13:26
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$\begingroup$ Perhaps you could edit the answers to be more specific. An acceptable question for main or an acceptable question for meta? $\endgroup$– JRNAug 12, 2016 at 13:45
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1$\begingroup$ The down voting (contrary to Gerry's instruction) illustrates why polls need to be done with up votes, because accumulation of down votes causes the corresponding post to become greyed out (and less legible). $\endgroup$– hardmathAug 12, 2016 at 18:15
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Vote this answer up, if you think a poll is an acceptable question.
answered Aug 12, 2016 at 13:24
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$\begingroup$ I've downvoted you. But not because a poll is an unacceptable question. Because you didn't have a discussion first about whether it was acceptable for an answer to be a poll. $\endgroup$ Aug 12, 2016 at 13:26
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8$\begingroup$ Vote this comment up, if you think a poll is an acceptable meta question. $\endgroup$– hardmathAug 12, 2016 at 13:27