How to Ask Me a Statistics Question

This post includes instructions on how to ask me a written statistics question.

The old way

I receive a lot of statistics questions by email. Answering such questions by email is inefficient.

• A lot of questions re-occur.
• Answers only help a single person.
• Senders only get my suggestions, and not suggestions from other experts.
• Sender do not get much feedback on how to improve in the art of writing effective questions.

A better way

A better model involves using http://stats.stackexchange.com . It offers many benefits.

• Many experts have an opportunity to provide an answer.
• The questions can be improved and refined.
• Questions and answers are accessible from search engines. Thus, the question and answers become an ongoing Internet resource that are typically read by many hundreds of people.
• The answers are under a Creative Commons licence which means that they can be reused in other forms.
• Learning to write effective questions on question and answer sites is an important skill.

Procedure for asking a question

1. Go to http://stats.stackexchange.com/ .
2. Create an account
   • You can create an account with a non-identifying user name if you prefer.
3. Read the FAQ.
4. Click ASK QUESTION.
   • Enter your question title, description, and any relevant tags.

Important things to remember:

• Be prepared to edit your question to provide additional information in response to comments; be prepared to respond to people who propose answers and explain why the answer is helpful or not. Asking a question is only the beginning of the process. The people answering the question are volunteers who are often motivated to create a question and answer combination that will be helpful for others in the future. You should try to facilitate this process.
• When asking questions, show what initial research you have done to answer the question (e.g., Google searches, reading a textbook).
• Try to extract the general question out of the specifics of your project, so that answers will be of greater use for future readers.
• Include background information that might be needed in order to answer your question effectively.
• If your question includes multiple parts, then you may need to ask separate questions.
• If you are concerned about anonymity, create a user name that is non-identifying, and, if necessary, tweak your question to make any project-specific details a little more abstract.
• Your question may be clearer if you break up your question into (a) context; (b) questions; and where appropriate (c) your initial answers.
• If your background is psychology, be aware that users on stats.stackexchange have diverse backgrounds. Clearly explain any psychological terms or concepts.

Asking me a question

• If you don't get a good answer in a few days and you think that I'd be well suited to answering the question, feel free to send me an email including the web address for the question. Of course, I can't promise that I'll have time to answer the question.