Monday, June 22, 2015

"Readers' Forum" Page

I've added a new page to this blog - it's titled "Readers' Forum". You'll see the tab for it in the bar just above the top post on the page you're reading now.

Some explanation is in order.

What?
The Readers' Forum is intended to be a "clearing house" for questions and requests relating to econometrics'

As I say in the preamble to the new page,
"Please feel free to use the "Comment" facility below to provide questions and answers relating to Econometrics. I won't be able to answer all questions myself, but other readers may be able to help. The Forum will be "lightly moderated" to avoid spam and inappropriate content."
Please note the italicized passage above.

Why?
Every day, readers post (or attempt to post) lots of "comments" on the various posts on this blog. In many cases, these are not comments at all - they're questions, requests for assistance, and the like.

All comments are moderated - I get to give them the "O.K." before they actually appear. That's just fine for genuine comments. Unless they're spam or contain inappropriate content, I invariably "approve" them right away.

However, in the case of questions and requests I prefer to delay approval and post a response simultaneously. Regrettably, this has meant that, increasingly, there is often a delay in getting this out there. 

Sometimes, the requests are, quite frankly, unreasonable.I won't go into the details here, but let's just say that there's a difference between a blog and a free consulting service.

I also try to be very careful when it's clear that the request comes form a student. I certainly don't want to get into a situation where I'm "getting between" that student and their instructor/supervisor.

In short, I like to try and be helpful, but I can't keep up with the demand. I do have a job!

Hopefully, the new forum will free up some time for me to focus on substantive posts, while still providing an opportunity for discussion.


© 2015, David E. Giles