What is a Poll?
@owlwings (43910)
Cambridge, England
January 22, 2016 5:52am CST
So you have come to the end of typing your ‘discussion’. Do you put a question at the end or are you just putting your ‘information’ out there for people to respond to (or not)? If you want responses, maybe you will very likely ask a question or two but what kind of question will you ask?
There seems to be some confusion about what is considered a “poll type” question here. I think that it’s unfortunate that the Guidelines refer to “mindless polls”. Not all polls are mindless (though the examples given in the Guidelines probably are). Some can give useful and far from valueless information but, at the same time, may not lead on to any useful discussion.
Your discussion is likely to be considered as a “poll” if the question it asks (or implies) doesn’t encourage discussion and especially if it asks for short answers, gives a selection of choices or provides examples of the kind of short responses expected.
Should I Include A Question In My Discussion?
A good discussion topic means that you are not only (hopefully) giving some information but also asking questions, either directly or by implication. After all, you want people to respond to it, so it is quite natural (though not obligatory) to put a direct question or two at the end of it!
What matters is the type of question you use. There are two basic kinds of question: the closed question and the open question.
The closed question asks for a short answer - either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or a selection from a list of options.
“Do you like ice cream?”
“What is your favourite music genre?”
“How many pets do you have?”
“What time do you go to bed?”
“Who is your favourite pop star?”
…
are all examples of ‘closed’ questions which ask for specific information and no more. Once they have an answer, there is usually very little more that can be said in the way of discussion. (Yes, of course it is possible to force further discussion out of them and a good conversationalist will often do this).
An open question, on the other hand, invites opinions and expansion and encourages discussion. Not all open questions specifically ask for thoughts, opinions or feelings on a topic (they are often more effective if they don’t) but they will all require people to give an explanation or to say something more than “yes” or “no” or some other short answer.
Compare the following questions with the five listed above. I have tried to make them all include the information asked for above but to require more for a full answer:
“Why do you like (or dislike) ice cream?”
“What is it about your favourite kind of music that you find exciting or stimulating?”
“Why do you choose to have just one pet, or many or none at all?”
“What is it that makes you know it’s time for bed?”
“Do you think your favourite pop star has what it takes to join the list of ‘evergreens’?”
Can you spot any ‘catch’ questions here - ones which, on the face of it could be answered with ‘yes’ or ‘no’ but which might, all the same, generate useful discussions?
Do you think that it’s easy or difficult to spot what are ‘poll type’ questions and what are not? How would you decide what discussion - apart from your own, of course - is really just a ‘poll’ (mindless or otherwise) and what is not?
29 people like this
24 responses
@GoAskAlice (5827)
•
22 Jan 16
I have nothing to add, this says it all very well.
9 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
22 Jan 16
As we both know this dates back many years to the earlier days of Mylot, when people would ask very basic direct questions in the desperate hope of gaining some activity.
I even recollect some moron posting "Do you have internet connection" as a discussion.
3 people like this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
22 Jan 16
Yes, it does, of course (and we still get some questions nearly as moronic as that!). The wording "mindless", however, dates from the 'new' interface of 2013 and I dislike it (more and more, the more I read it!).
It's all really about 'what makes a good/valid discussion' and what does not. Not infrequently, Admin will leave a discussion reported as a 'poll' until it has gained some responses. Depending on those responses, he may then decide whether it stays or goes.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
22 Jan 16
@owlwings I realise that "Mindless" is a rather harsh term, but also feel that it is valid in some cases. If we had reason to ask a specific question then we should easily be able to present it in some interesting format consisting a several paragraphs.
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
22 Jan 16
@Asylum "Mindless" is very occasionally truly valid and a well-deserved judgement. I don't like it as used in the Guidelines, however, because it's a 'pre-judgement' and like a 'slap in the face with a wet fish' (if you see what I mean). I am very much in favour of the mantra: "The only stupid question is the one you didn't ask" and nobody (or at least, the majority of honest people) is inclined to think their question 'mindless', however trite it may seem to others.
As far as the Guidelines go, I'd much rather that they defined a 'discussion' in more positive terms (with the negatives implied). They are, after all, Guidelines rather than 'rules' and therefore intended to mean 'thou shalt' rather than 'thou shalt not' (even though it's easier to list the things that are not appropriate than those that are).
1 person likes this
@allknowing (136394)
• India
23 Jan 16
It took me back to the old myLor where I had created a post on the subject where there was very good interaction with Admin
Having made a promise to help the newbies and those who are still groping in the dark about guidelines violations I thought if we could all pool together topics...
2 people like this
@GardenGerty (160663)
• United States
2 Feb 16
Oh, yeah! perhaps our minds are off somewhere together.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (112877)
• El Paso, Texas
2 Feb 16
Yep, helpin ourselves to all those goodies everyone else says we shouldn't eat, right @GardenGerty ? Pass me that sour cream please, I need a bit more in the salsa ... wood you like some?
@Morleyhunt (21744)
• Canada
22 Jan 16
What bothers me most is the one line question. That is the entire post. Yes the question could be used to start a discussion, but somehow, fleshed out, it become more inviting.
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
22 Jan 16
I agree. One liners make me feel uncomfortable, too. I like to see some opinion or 'background' from the person starting the discussion. Several (if not all) of the questions I gave as examples of "open" questions could, at a pinch, be considered to be 'within the guidelines' but I would not be happy about calling them 'good discussions'.
1 person likes this
@ridingbet (66854)
• Philippines
24 Jan 16
I sometimes end my discussion with a question, but I think I do not post a poll. Just insights will do.
1 person likes this
@rosekiss (30414)
• Eugene, Oregon
22 Jan 16
I never post a question to my discussion, as I don't want it to be a poll question, that needs a yes or o answer, which to me, isn't an answer at all. I would prefer just to post a discussion and not ask a question at all, unless I were really needing help with something, and then I would, but then it wouldn't ba a poll question either.
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
22 Jan 16
One meaning of the word 'poll' is:
a questioning or canvassing of persons selected at random or by quota to obtain information or opinions to be analyzed
Since answers to a question at the end of a discussion are not asked at random and the information/answers given are not analyzed - it is a poll? I would think not. But that's my two cents worth - what do you think Random Person that I'm asking??
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
22 Jan 16
Ah yes! Another reason that I dislike the wording "mindless poll" (and preferred "poll type" as used in the original Guidelines, as I'm sure you remember). I did look up the accepted definitions of 'Poll' before I started, of course. The phrases "at random or by quota" and "to be analysed" are not pivotal, I think.
Of course, it all depends whether the questions asked at the end of a discussion topic are likely to lead to a discussion or merely to a catalogue of 'ayes' and 'noes' or short statements. I know that you know that, so let's have a serious discussion on that basis, [Mrs Random Smiley Person with a Lovely Smiley Labrador]! 
1 person likes this
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
22 Jan 16
@AbbyGreenhill I think that I had always thought that you were a member from before the 2013 'watershed' However, looking at your profile I see that you may only have been here 5 months but you declare yourself to be "Organized, dependable, a rule-follower" (with which I agree!). It just shows how we can sometimes feel more comfortable with those we have known for only a short while than with those who we have known for much longer!
I do agree that the accepted definition of a "poll" is as you describe. I think, therefore, that we agree that the use of the word in the Guidelines is not really appropriate. I think that you also understand what I'm driving at in this discussion, so maybe we can come to some conclusions about how the Guidelines OUGHT to be worded in order to be clear to [new] users about what makes a good discussion.
1 person likes this
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
22 Jan 16
@owlwings I am an original in many regards, but not an original to this site. I wandered in here in August a complete newbie to myLot. But data gained from political polls (stop laughing) is analyzed so as far as my brain goes it is pivotal...but then again this is my take on it. Legally, there is probably a different view.So the bottom line is you don't think my comments are serious enough?
@garymarsh6 (23404)
• United Kingdom
23 Jan 16
I would much rather have a detailed response to a question rather than a simple yes or no! It is nice to know how each person ticks.
1 person likes this
@Shiva49 (26681)
• Singapore
22 Jan 16
I have not really posed questions on my discussions, so this is certainly food for thought to make mine more interesting. Our discussions should encourage free and healthy flow of responses, even harmless but healthy debates, but maintaining the decorum needed on a site like this - siva
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
22 Jan 16
If you are looking for discussion (as we all should be here), it is well worth thinking about how we phrase our posts. I see many so-called 'discussions' which miss the point entirely by just putting out information without any invitation or encouragement to reply. This doesn't, of course, have to be a direct question - most thoughtful writers (I do not even say 'good' or 'skilled') should know how to inspire comment and discussion just by the way they present information. It is, after all, something that anyone who understands conversation should know.
2 people like this
