Re: A possible GFDL compromise: a proposal
bts@alum.mit.edu (Brian T. Sniffen) a tapoté :
> >> 1. "Is this MP3 file software or hardware?"
> >
> > This is one is definitely worse: you explicitely point out which
> > definition of the word software you think is the most usual, by asking
> > to refer to this definition.
>
> Well, yes: I'm being upfront about in which domain I'm placing the
> question. Simply asking "Is this MP3 software?" doesn't give any
> meaningful data, because you can't control for bias on the part of the
> individual.
Well, what you call "controlling for bias" is in fact controlling the
data.
Have you some background in sociology? You know, there's are
interesting books that explain some acceptable methodology to follow
when doing interviews and wanting "meaningful data" (in a little bit
scientific and honnest way). For instance, "controling for bias"
should be done once you already collected the data, not during this
collection of _raw_ data, if you do not want to alter too much the
_raw_ data.
"Is this MP3 software?" seems to be a correct question: it does not
propose any definition of software to follow, so the questioned one
must answer by explaining partly what he considers to be software.
--
Mathieu Roy
Homepage:
http://yeupou.coleumes.org
Not a native english speaker:
http://stock.coleumes.org/doc.php?i=/misc-files/flawed-english
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