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Once again, we have a community evaluation. This is the same as last time, it's in the review queues.

Head here to participate.

Since the new queues don't really provide the option to add eval-specific comments (unlike the old method), I'm setting up this meta post as suggested by the community team.

Feel free to post your thoughts on the eval questions as answers/comments here. There's no specific form to the answers, you may write one-answer-per-question (slightly clutter-y, though), or just keep all your opinions on all questions in one post. If you want some ideas as to what sort of comments we're looking for, read the old eval and its comments.

Here's a list of the questions (so that you don't have to go back and look for them), numbered for convenience:

  1. Where can I find a downloadable spreadsheet of element properties?
  2. Why does the conversion of SO₂ to SO₃ require high pressure?
  3. What is the process for purifying KOH?
  4. How does the litmus pH indicator work?
  5. Lennard Jones liquid vapor phase transition
  6. Ambiguity synthesis
  7. What makes Coke acidic?
  8. Calculating heat capacity of a calorimeter
  9. What is a 'Trace Crossing'?
  10. Why are nitrogenous hydrocarbons sometimes colorful?
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  • $\begingroup$ Thanks for starting this! $\endgroup$
    – jonsca
    Commented Feb 13, 2013 at 5:07
  • $\begingroup$ @jonsca: Not my idea, Anna's (also some discussion in TL). I just decided to facilitate it since the automated post hasn't been implemented yet :) $\endgroup$
    – ManishEarth
    Commented Feb 13, 2013 at 5:10
  • $\begingroup$ I guess this is going to be a little off topic, but is the beta going to survive :)? Is it still growing? Will it get removed if it doesn't start doing better? $\endgroup$
    – user1160
    Commented Feb 13, 2013 at 12:32
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    $\begingroup$ @Brian: It's growing, that's for sure. And it has much better stats than the betas that were closed a while back :) That doesn't guarantee it's survival, but I don't think we have to worry much about it. $\endgroup$
    – ManishEarth
    Commented Feb 13, 2013 at 12:35
  • $\begingroup$ @Brian oh, btw, the fact that we have a community eval has nothing to do with the survival of the site (aside from the obvious "it's still alive!"). Evals are automatic events, the occur every 90 days. $\endgroup$
    – ManishEarth
    Commented Feb 13, 2013 at 15:06
  • $\begingroup$ @Manishearth I totally missed that, I'm so behind the times. Next thing you know they'll be telling me that tube TVs are obsolete. $\endgroup$
    – jonsca
    Commented Feb 13, 2013 at 22:58

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I think most of that content is good, and lives up to the standards I've witnessed on other stack exchanges. I could wish for more activity, but that will hopefully pick up in time. Maybe we should encourage self-answering questions some more, just to build content that will attract more new users?

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  • $\begingroup$ I'm happy that you feel that the quality is pretty good :) Activity, well, yeah, we're picking up speed, which is good. Not sure about self-answering questions; it's not that good an idea to "seed" the site (no rule against it though). However, if you have something awesome to share, and can put it in a Q&A form, feel free to do so! Similarly for any problem/curiosity which you have recently faced and solved yourself. $\endgroup$
    – ManishEarth
    Commented Feb 13, 2013 at 15:05
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We seem to have a good crop this time (I didn't have to click "needs improvement" even once!). The quality/informativeness of the answers is quite high. I don't like all the questions, but the answers make up for a lot of it :)

Once the eval is over (and after confirming this with the other mods), I shall post some graphs of the results.

Individual remarks (it's better if you first do the eval, and then read these):

  1. Where can I find a downloadable spreadsheet of element properties?

    I don't like recommendation/reference request qs much. But this one seems highly useful, and the nice answer by Richard makes up for it :) I voted "Satisfactory", since the question type wasn't so good, and the answer made up for it.

  2. Why does the conversion of SO₂ to SO₃ require high pressure?

    I like the question. Though it is a simple one, it begs for a detailed explanation. Which is what it got. "Excellent" from me.

  3. What is the process for purifying KOH?

    DIY question -- not my favorite type, but there's nothing bad about it :) A good recommendation in the answer, though it would help if the answer had some info on why it works.

  4. How does the litmus pH indicator work?

    Rather common question (this is good!), with a good answer. I voted "Satisfactory", but on rereading it I probably should've given it "Excellent"

  5. Lennard Jones liquid vapor phase transition

    A detailed question on an actual problem that is faced. Such questions are rare on science sites -- generally "actual problem I face" questions are too localised. "Excellent" for that reason itself. Good answer, though a bit short.

  6. Ambiguity synthesis

    Slightly incomplete question, with a short answer. "Satisfactory", leaning towards "Needs Improvement"

  7. What makes Coke acidic?

    Good question, with OK answers (they're rather speculative -- though I'm not sure how far you can go here before having to whip out pKa and concentration values) "Satisfactory"

  8. Calculating heat capacity of a calorimeter

    A homework question with some effort in it! Yay! The second answer is against our HW policy (it's a complete answer -- we only provide hints). "Satisfactory", since an "Excellent" HW problem in my eyes will have to be truly excellent :P

  9. What is a 'Trace Crossing'?

    Terminology question. Not my favorite type. Useful, though. Another "satisfactory"

  10. Why are nitrogenous hydrocarbons sometimes colorful?

    Good question about color, with a good answer. "Satisfactory", leaning towards "Excellent"

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I'll keep some graphs regarding the evals here. Their design is inspired (and largely copied) from the ones on genealogy and gaming.

When I refer to Net Score here, I mean "(number of "excellent" reviews)-(number of "needs improvement" reviews)"

Distribution of evaluation votes received by type (along with net score)

enter image description here

Net score plotted with question/answer scores (by votes)

enter image description here

I may post more graphs later--these are the ones which give the most insights IMO. If you have any ideas for a graph, please let me know. (Or ping me, I'll be happy to provide the data in a nice format)

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Final Results

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  • $\begingroup$ Ah, thanks for this :) I totally forgot to make the graphs and all (got an exam going on). I'll do them later. $\endgroup$
    – ManishEarth
    Commented Feb 21, 2013 at 18:37
  • $\begingroup$ @Manishearth Cool; no worries. Don't edit this answer though if/when you do - I'm trying to use it as an example for future automatically posted results. $\endgroup$
    – Adam Lear StaffMod
    Commented Feb 26, 2013 at 19:54
  • $\begingroup$ No prob, I'll post it separately :) [and yep, I forgot again ] bangs head against wall $\endgroup$
    – ManishEarth
    Commented Feb 26, 2013 at 19:59

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