Bulk voting is bound to happen as just for casting a vote, knowingly or unknowingly, you get a point. So those who are here just for points and level up they will vote to the maximum limit for that level per day and as a result the best answer always doesn’t get selected as the best because the voters’ objective is to gain points and not to select the best answer. But Y!A can’t remove the system of giving 1 point per vote too as otherwise there will be just too many open questions in tie-breaker. Also, many users fishing for points vote from multiple accounts in favour of their answer, irrespective of whether their answer is best or not.

Regarding, the Thumbs Up/ Down, it doesn’t refer to the correctness or wrongness of an answer. According to Yahoo’s definition it shows whether you agree with an answer. More people can agree to an answer that is actually wrong but apparently right, so it is not correct to judge the correctness of an answer based on the nos. of TU/TD.

Finally, I would like to say here that there is a separate discussion forum for these type of topics and these types of suggestions have to be made there, not in Yahoo! Answer. The link to the forum is http://suggestions.yahoo.com/?prop=answers

P.S.: There are many good comments, suggestions and thoughtful views in many answers to this questions. My suggestion is if someone can make a summary of those and post in the forum and if other users support that post then may be we can bring the attention of Yahoo! Answers officials, but posting anything here will not draw any attention of anyone.
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Edit:
Dr D, I belong to the 1st and 3rd category, though now I am still trying to earn my Top Contributor badge.
anil, I star this question hoping for more responses from my fellow contacts.
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There are four types of people who visit the science and math categories:
1) those looking for challenging problems
2) those looking for homework solutions
3) those looking to learn from others
4) trolls

Trolls will be trolls. Sub categories will not change that. You could already see evidence of their work here. I have never seen scythian receive that many thumbs down.

Also if there are two math categories (pure and applied), then most homework seekers will not automatically go to pure math. They may post the question multiple times in different categories. All they need is multiple accounts if they run out of quota. Just to prove this point. There is a section called "homework help" … or at least there used to be. How many people actually post(ed) their questions there? Most top contributors never visit(ed) that section, therefore homework seekers realize(d) that that section is(was) useless to them. So naturally they would migrate to whereever the top contributors are. If there is a special "hard question category", that’s where they are going to end up posting their mundane questions.

Those seeking challenging questions and those genuinely interested in learning already have a vast resource at their disposal. For the most part they are already taken care of. I never scan through the open forum anymore. I always look at questions that my network asked or starred - whatever the subcategory. Having a special subcategory will not change my practice.

So in my opinion, the site is already suited to the needs of everyone. I just wish Y!A could do away with the silly chatting law, as Scythian mentioned.

*EDIT*
I forgot, there is actually a 5th type of user. Those interested in accumulating many points or many best answers. That’s how I started off. For my first few months on Y!A I was interested in getting to level 7. I reached #2 in the math category and #1 in one of the sports categories. But once I reached level 7, I lost interest in doing the mundane questions.

The reason I mentioned this? Most of the other top contributors that you are referring to more or less feel the same way. They prefer to only answer questions that challenge them. If there is a new "hard question category", then there is going to be a new top 10. Suddenly the rat race for best answers will resume, which will end up being counterthetical to its intended purpose.

The bottom line is that you can’t have a special category for part time users - those who choose to rarely log on.
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Discipline, of course, comes from within. I am sometimes discouraged by the apparent lack of it on the part of some askers and even some answerers.

I think the TU’s/TO’s should be abolished. I have seen too many TD’s on what were correct answers.

Edit functionality would enhance the value on one’s answer. The inclusion of the word ‘trinomial’ in the dictionary would be a plus as well.

I don’t mean to trivialize the asker’s concerns here. I am not sure I can differentiate between applied mathematics and merely mathematics. If a clear distinction can be made, then a separation is perhaps reasonable. But we will still witness the relative discipline of participants.

I appreciate any attempt to make things better on YA, but don’t hold much hope that YA will go along with any suggestion.

Go Jolly,

Kindrick
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*********
Also, the task of Yahoo is to make money. For this purpose they need to attract more people to their site. And majority of people … You know how they look like.
Imagine, that Formula 1 pilots ask for a separate lane on the road, so that they can move there with 200 miles per hour. And driving schools also ask for a separate lane.
Roads exist to help people to go from point A to point B. Yahoo exists to make profit.
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Until that changes, I think it is pointless to create additional categories. Furthermore, how many people would actually know whether their question belonged in pure or applied mathematics?
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I also agree with what a lot of the people have already said. This site was intended for people to exchange expertise in any given field. It is true that there are so many different fields of mathematics, even at lower levels, that finding a question within your field of expertise is sometimes difficult, but to facilitate the fix for this problem would mean making an individual sub-section for each branch of lower maths: algebra, trig/geometry, calculus, etc… I’ve already stated my opinion on splitting the section.

I’ve thought about this idea before and I couldn’t see it doing any good.

If we really want to petition Y!A for something I propose, not directly my idea, that they allow formatting of text for the mathematics, and possibly physics and chemistry, section. I don’t know about you all but writing equations, especially complex fractions and the like can get very cross-eye inducing when written out linearly. This could be done with LaTeX or any other formatting style.

That’s my 2 cents.
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Although I have taken Y/A for what it is, and/or for what it is not, it still amazes me, at times, when a question I happened to answer gets deleted. (though not from my fault). Your observations are all quite true. With regards to guidelines prohibiting chatting, or just the semblance to chatting, it is, to my opinion, leaving so much gray areas in its implementation. It is quite antithetical for a forum such as Y/A
to prohibit chatting, when basically, it has a Q-and-A format. Is that not in itself conversational—– as what chatting is? Well, we have to leave the interpretative privilige to the staff, being the authority empowered in this aspect. With power comes authority, they say.

This TU/TD concept, in my opinion, needs also some revision. An asker who quite appreciates your answer could not make a TU if such an asker happens to be just level 1. As if level categorization, which is done on point system, is a sole judge on competency in the subject. Whereas an arrogant late answerer could freely give a TD before proceeding to answer with a not-so-different answer. It is therefore a better concept for this TU/TD to have the giver and the reason thereat revealed.

There is a homework section in Y/A. But then, Math and Physics answerers may not feel like going to browse there. So it is understandable why the students deemed it quite good wisdom to post their questions directly here where the big guns are. (lol) (Learned fellows, don’t be too hard on homework questions. When students email you to attend to their questions, consider it flattering instead of taxing).

I usually take to Y/A after I have taken my meal. Don’t get it wrong. I don’t mean to say that Y/A is also like those medicines not to be taken on an empty stomach. I meant, rather, that I answer at leisure. That is just to explain what our attitude should be. For my part, I have wandered wherever my contacts oblige me to answer. Sometimes I get BA answering on pregnancy in Women’s Health, or on Fish in Pets section, in Mythology, in Poetry, or in Finance or Banking and quite well in Philosophy. But never got lucky in Religion or Lesbian and Gay Section (lol, my God, why do I get emailed with those Qs). My point is, just be of the spirit. But my favorite is on the exact Science where there is a correct answer. In the other categories even a snide remark could become BA.

I wishfully think, it would not hurt Y/A to provide a section for posting scientific papers, treatises, theories, etc regarding Science and Mathematics. And there let it be subjected to its "baptism by fire." But then Y/A will reply that there is a blog feature for that. But it is a lot more different when posting in the mainstream search conduit of Y/A.
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