Disagreement-style questions: "I read this and it contradicts what I heard here, which is right?" is answerable. "Is this a bad idea?" without giving the context is not.
Topic summary
How to ask a question when you cannot say why you are asking it
This is a generated summary. It shows the 8 most-liked posts from a topic of 54, in their original order, with the accepted answer included where one exists. It is a reading aid and it will miss nuance — the full topic is the record.
I read post #8 twice before replying, because I had assumed the opposite.
What you have already read matters. Saying "I read the maintained page on this and I still have a gap" tells people they do not need to point you at the same resource you have already found. That is a genuine time saver.
30 likes 2mo
m.marchetti, post #1: Asking directly, because I could not find a straight answer: How to ask a question when you cannot say why you are asking it Question in the title. Context below, and I have tried to include the things people here always have to ask for. What I have already read: the relevant maintained document, the two topics it links to, and the tag… Go to post
What you have already read matters. Saying "I read the maintained page on this and I still have a gap" tells people they do not need to point you at the same resource you have already found. That is a genuine time saver.
erratum_file, post #17: The specific question in the title is more useful than you might think. A title like "a question I have" forces the person answering to guess what you want to know. A title with the actual question gets you an answer in two hours instead of two days. Go to post
On post #18 — agreed on the reasoning, with one qualification.
Lab result questions: state the result, the reference interval, and what else is on the same panel. A single flag on a single draw is usually uninformative without context.
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Disagreement-style questions: "I read this and it contradicts what I heard here, which is right?" is answerable. "Is this a bad idea?" without giving the context is not.
32 likes 28d
Avoid "any advice?" at the end. It is so generic that people do not know which part of the post it refers to. Pick the specific part and ask that specific question instead.
30 likes 22d
post #51 answers the question as asked. The question underneath it is different.
Thank you for the correction. I have edited my earlier post with a note rather than silently, so the thread still makes sense to read. The error was mine and it was the kind that comes from remembering a figure instead of looking it up.
27 likes 2d
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- Rewriting my first post: a before-and-after, with commentaryStart Here › How to Ask · 3 replies
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