#466839 - Tue Apr 14 2009 09:06 AM
Quiz corrections etiquette
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Mainstay
Registered: Sat Nov 03 2007
Posts: 506
Loc: Tyrone
Northern Ireland UK
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Is it considered good form to send a correction note just because the wording of a question is bad?
For example, I got this one in an hourly game (it's about soccer): "A player takes a direct free kick taken outside that player's own penalty area into this player's own goal, without the ball touching anyone. How does the referee re-start play?"
It took me a bit of time to work out what the question meant.
To my mind a clearer way of asking would have been: "A player takes a direct free kick into his (or her) own goal without the ball touching anyone. How does the referee re-start play?"
(I won't give the correct answer in case some of you want to play that quiz).
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#466840 - Tue Apr 14 2009 09:25 AM
Re: Quiz corrections etiquette
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Enthusiast
Registered: Tue Oct 14 2008
Posts: 301
Loc: Florida USA
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I've always wanted to, but have withheld from it.
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#466843 - Tue Apr 14 2009 11:32 AM
Re: Quiz corrections etiquette
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Moderator
Registered: Mon Jul 09 2007
Posts: 41461
Loc: Ottawa Ontario Canada
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But sometimes using pronouns is confusing too!
Like Anne picked up Melissa and they went to talk to her brother. Which her??
That's a dumb example, couldn't think of a better one off the top of my head.
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Editor: Television and Animals
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#466844 - Tue Apr 14 2009 12:04 PM
Re: Quiz corrections etiquette
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Enthusiast
Registered: Tue Oct 14 2008
Posts: 301
Loc: Florida USA
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Oh well. I just remembered that I sent a correction notice for a confusing question, but it really was confusing. It went something like;
When did Lousia's mother die?
Two years before
One year after
Five years after
The year she was born
Which might work if it was based off a novel, but it was based off a person's life.
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Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard disk?
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#466849 - Tue Apr 14 2009 01:05 PM
Re: Quiz corrections etiquette
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Mainstay
Registered: Sat May 03 2008
Posts: 926
Loc: California USA
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Quote:
Quote:
What is the point in sending a correction notice? I have sent out quite a few in my time here, and do you all know how many have responded, let alone fixed it? One. Two if you count the time I had an insult towards Americans taken out of someone's quiz. However, that was an editor that changed that. Not the author itself.
The point in sending a correction note is that the error gets fixed! ALL correction notes that are sent are reviewed by an editor. I repeat: ALL correction notes.
If the author of the quiz is not around anymore to fix the error, an editor will fix it. We generally don't reply to the senders of correction notes though, for lack of time.
If you send a correction note and nothing gets changed, it most likely means the editor and the author felt the quiz was correct as is and nothing needed to be changed.
Ahh, good to know. Thanks. I was thinking that nobody was reading them.
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#466851 - Wed Apr 15 2009 02:24 PM
Re: Quiz corrections etiquette
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Enthusiast
Registered: Tue Oct 14 2008
Posts: 301
Loc: Florida USA
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I don't mind when I get a correction notice that teaches me something. For example, did you know people with eating disorders can not only have dangerously low blood pressure, but some have dangerously high? That teaches me something. Debating on whether a disease is hereditary isn't worth my time, when scientists have given a very straightforward answer.
Edited by funnybuni (Wed Apr 15 2009 02:24 PM)
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#466852 - Wed Apr 15 2009 03:12 PM
Re: Quiz corrections etiquette
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Prolific
Registered: Mon Mar 12 2007
Posts: 1408
Loc: Hartlepool Durham England UK
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One of my best ever moments on FT came from a correction note - I wrote a quiz about my favourite magazine, and got a name mixed up, and actually got a CN from the office staff of the magazine! My quiz had popped up on a search of the magazine name and they played it, then registered specially to send me the note. They said they liked the quiz and I was so PROUD lol, it was like a telegram from the Queen or something :-D
Edit because I can spell really, honestly...
Edited by Rowena8482 (Wed Apr 15 2009 03:13 PM)
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#466853 - Wed Apr 15 2009 05:05 PM
Re: Quiz corrections etiquette
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Forum Champion
Registered: Mon Apr 22 2002
Posts: 5007
Loc: Western Australia
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Quote:
it is irritating when someone uses the correction notices to show off some odd bit of knowledge that they've picked up, or to pursue their private agenda about the topic
I don't mind it when someone shows off a bit of trivia knowledge, especially if it is interesting and I learn something too. However, pursuing a private agenda is really annoying. I wrote a quiz question once in which I mentioned Ronald Reagan. The question was quite non-political and strictly factual. However, I got a correction note (which was not valid) from a player which was basically a political tirade and quite abusive.
Luckily those sorts of notes are few and far between. Many of the notes are helpful even if they are not valid. I always welcome them as a way to improve my quizzes. Sometimes it means that my question isn't written as clearly as it might be.
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Don't say "I can't" ... say " I haven't learned how, yet." (Reg Bolton)
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#466854 - Wed Apr 15 2009 05:58 PM
Re: Quiz corrections etiquette
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Moderator
Registered: Mon Jul 09 2007
Posts: 41461
Loc: Ottawa Ontario Canada
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I don't mind someone writing to tell me what they know about the subject, if's interesting and informative... but I don't think a correction note is the place to do that unless something in the quiz is actually wrong. If you want to add something, like a little "Did you know...", by all means send me a message, but not a correction note if what I have written isn't incorrect.
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Editor: Television and Animals
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#466856 - Wed Apr 15 2009 07:06 PM
Re: Quiz corrections etiquette
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Enthusiast
Registered: Tue Oct 14 2008
Posts: 301
Loc: Florida USA
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That is so cool, Rowena! Perhaps someday, I'll get a compliment or correction notice like that... I hope I do!
The key is to just be polite. That is mainly it, and to say "I might have just lost my marbles, but what are you referring to by saying 'ten years after'? Could you please be more specific in your quiz? Thanks - and great job!".
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#466857 - Wed Apr 15 2009 09:02 PM
Re: Quiz corrections etiquette
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Prolific
Registered: Fri Aug 20 2004
Posts: 1302
Loc: Omaha Nebraska USA
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Most of my CNs are pretty good. I did get one the other day, though, that simply said "Question 10 is wrong". I assume the writer just read it wrong - it's a "which of these is NOT" question on a rather detailed subject - but there was no way to tell, and the writer didn't respond to a request for clarification.
I would summarize, but said summary would be insulting almost by necessity, so I'll stop right now.
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Stu
Editor, Sports
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#466861 - Thu Apr 16 2009 05:01 AM
Re: Quiz corrections etiquette
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Prolific
Registered: Mon Mar 12 2007
Posts: 1408
Loc: Hartlepool Durham England UK
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Quote:
Quote:
That is so cool, Rowena! Perhaps someday, I'll get a compliment or correction notice like that... I hope I do!
Surely the aim is to NEVER receive a correction notice or am I missing something?
It is! But being far from perfect, and a fallible, frail, human being  when a CN does arrive, it's so much nicer (easier to swallow even...) when it's a polite, friendly, interested comment type one rather than the other end of the scale which for me, like Stu's was one that said "it suks an is rong" (and I quote there!)
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It is better to open your eyes and say you do not understand, than to close your eyes and say you do not believe.
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#466863 - Thu Apr 16 2009 06:07 AM
Re: Quiz corrections etiquette
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Forum Champion
Registered: Mon Apr 22 2002
Posts: 5007
Loc: Western Australia
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Schoonie, this does happen to us in the Literature category. I can't speak for other categories but I can try to answer your question using Literature as an example. As you can imagine, we Literature editors are well-read but, of course, nobody has read every book ever written. Even so, we can usually fix most of the problems because the majority of quiz corrections are not valid. You'd be amazed just how often the players haven't actually read the question properly, or how often the answer is explained in the interesting information section, but the player hasn't bothered to read it. If I see a correction note for a quiz where the author is long-gone, there are a variety of strategies that can be employed to decide what to do. For example, I can enlist the help of the other editors. Sometimes I enlist the help of other "experts" I know. For example, my teenage daughter is very helpful when it comes to Manga, Children's and Young Adult Literature - she's a voracious reader and is studying Literature at university. I can try to research the answer on the Internet. However, some answers can't be found that way - you just have to read the book. I have actually done that too - but it's time consuming! I can look at the quality of the correction note and the quality of the quiz, to see who might be the more reliable source - the player or the quiz author - it's a bit of a judgement call. Sometimes the quiz-maker is no longer with us but we know their work from the past, so we know whether they are reliable or not. We also have author history notes that we can refer to - these notes are a record of how many quizzes the author has made, how much editing was required to get them online, etc. If the correction note inspires confidence, I can send a note to the player explaining that the author is no longer active on the site. I can then ask the player to elaborate on the mistake or problem and/or enlist their help in fixing up the question. Bear in mind that most quiz makers create quizzes on topics that they know well - their area of professional expertise, the hobby that they are passionate about, or a book/movie/music that they love. It's easier to write a quiz when you know your subject well. People don't tend to write quizzes about things they know nothing about or that they are not interested in. So the odds are that the quiz-maker is more likely to be correct than the player. I am sure there are other factors but these are all I can think of for now. If you are going to send correction notes, make sure you give enough information to assist the editors in making the right decision - we really appreciate it!  .
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Don't say "I can't" ... say " I haven't learned how, yet." (Reg Bolton)
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The People's Friend! I'm sure the Saga one is lovely, but it's not the one I love lol
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