| Poll Voting
Hi!
Of the polls that are posted here, I have noted two types:
1. One correct answer, and several incorrect ones - test type
2. Several alternatives, they are not inherently wrong or right, but rather represent alternatives which are more or less agreeable to the repondent.
The rest of this post is concerned only with the 2nd type.
I think that it would be a good idea if the poll could be coded in such a way so that the respondent is asked to rank all the alternatives in order from the one which he likes the most to the one which he dislikes the most, and all in between also ranked. As it is now, the polls are coded so that the respondent can only indicate his favorite choice.
This brings me to the topic of voting theory. The present coding corresponds to plurality voting - the vote tallying method used in most elections in English-speaking countries. There are several problems with this method - nearly all voting theorists agree that of all possible methods, it is one of the worst. Its sole advantage is that it is very simple to explain, which is considered important for a method that must work with the general public - which contains a lot of dim bulbs.
This should be a moot issue here at fencing101 - fencers generally are considerably smarter than the average joe, since fencing puts such a premium on intelligence. Therefore more complex voting systems should be viable here.
Now, if the poll respondents are asked to rank all alternatives in the poll, there will be more information to toy around with, and the general opinion of the community will be better described. If all alternatives are ranked, the "winner" can be determined by - for example - Condorcet or Instant Runoff voting, methods which are much less prone to various undesiable voting phenomena such as vote spoiling, teaming. crowding, etc. (With plurality voting, an alternative in a field of five considered to be best by 21% and worst by the rest, will win over an alternative considered best by 20% and 2nd best by the rest. No such craziness with just about any other voting method.)
A good example of recent threads that could be turned into such a poll is the "what is your favorite weapon" thread. Other could be polls on best location for a competition, who should get team spots, etc.
Have a nice time!
Peter Gustafsson | 
Linear Mode
