| Pages in topic: < [1 2 3] | Why not post KudoZ percentages? Thread poster: Robert Forstag
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Robert Forstag 
United States
Local time: 18:34
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Just one more piece of useful data: no more and no less | Jun 19, 2006 |
As I indicated in launching this thread, I am fully in favor of making public a reliability ratio (RR) for Kudoz participants. I am at the same time in agreement with those who have expressed concerns, in this and a previous thread, about the limitations of such a ratio.
I see in both threads on the subject a fundamental confusion regarding differential value of the RR as regards determining, on the one hand, accuracy of a single Kudoz response and, on the other hand, the overall ... See more As I indicated in launching this thread, I am fully in favor of making public a reliability ratio (RR) for Kudoz participants. I am at the same time in agreement with those who have expressed concerns, in this and a previous thread, about the limitations of such a ratio.
I see in both threads on the subject a fundamental confusion regarding differential value of the RR as regards determining, on the one hand, accuracy of a single Kudoz response and, on the other hand, the overall value of a participant's contribution to the Kudoz system. In terms of its enabling an Asker to judge the validity of a single answer, the reliability ratio is, just like degrees, certifications, claims of experience, and references, of fairly limited worth.
However, when it comes to gauging overall linguistic competence, as well as contribution to the site, a reliability ratio would seem to be of somewhat greater value. To take an absurd example, wouldn't it somehow be significant if two different persons each had 10,000 Kudoz points in the same language pair(s), but one had a reliability ratio of 50% and the other had an RR of 10%? Wouldn't such a huge disparity provide a meaningful datum regarding the disparate competence of these two participants, even taking into account such issues as the supplying of duplicate answers, a participant just trying to be helpful, and the fickleness of Askers? After all, the translator with the 50% ratio has had to deal with these same factors....
A secondary benefit of an RR would be that it would tend to discourage much of the wild "point-hunting" that is so often complained about in several of the language pairs.
What of lesser disparities--say, of 45% to 37%? Well, lesser disparities obviously are less meaningful.
As has been previously mentioned, the particular language pair(s) that one works in does make a difference. A 45% RR in Spanish-English will have a different meaning than the same ratio in, say, the Yoruba-Yiddish pair.
As critics of the RR point out, it would only be a single datum of limited worth: neither more nor less limited than the many other data offered as part of each member/user profile. The question then boils down to whether the RR is valuable *enough* to warrant inclusion. I think that it is.
As to how best to post the RR data, I would suggest, at minimum, that the "Stats" tab for paying members be made optionally accessible to profile visitors. I also think that the RR be made optionally viewable by visitors on the page where all Kudoz points are listed. ▲ Collapse
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