Proving that the Star System is useless

[CharlesEBrown]

This is why it is there is evil, there is greater evil, and then there's statistics.

The original quote, attributed Mark Twain (who claimed he cribbed the line from Benjamin Disraeli but it does not appear in any of Disraeli's works), was "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics".

I do not think it is the case here, but I know a lot of rating systems go by a straight value for the first ten or so instances, and then discount the highest and lowest single ratings from the aggregate. So, if you get 20 ratings, with a single 1, three 5s and, eight 3s and eight 4s, only two of the 5s and all of the 3 and 4-star ratings would count.

And I will say it is STATISTICALLY useless as there is no definition as to what a rating means. Does a 5 star rating just mean "I really liked this" or "this is near perfect?" Does a 3 mean "well-written but just not my cup of tea" or "completely average" or "Not bad, but grammar and spelling errors got in the way of enjoying it?" And does a 1-star rating mean "I hated the story" or "I hate the author" or "I am having a bad day and am just downvoting everything?"

 

[Deleted member 84247]

The original quote, attributed Mark Twain (who claimed he cribbed the line from Benjamin Disraeli but it does not appear in any of Disraeli's works), was "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics".

I do not think it is the case here, but I know a lot of rating systems go by a straight value for the first ten or so instances, and then discount the highest and lowest single ratings from the aggregate. So, if you get 20 ratings, with a single 1, three 5s and, eight 3s and eight 4s, only two of the 5s and all of the 3 and 4-star ratings would count.

And I will say it is STATISTICALLY useless as there is no definition as to what a rating means. Does a 5 star rating just mean "I really liked this" or "this is near perfect?" Does a 3 mean "well-written but just not my cup of tea" or "completely average" or "Not bad, but grammar and spelling errors got in the way of enjoying it?" And does a 1-star rating mean "I hated the story" or "I hate the author" or "I am having a bad day and am just downvoting everything?"

What if you had a rating system like this. Worst, bad, okay, good, great. They are all coded like it is now, so it's the star system, but the user is aware of what it means. Do you think more novels would get the rating "okay". Technically, the color coding on SH should be like a hint, but some people think a four is meh

 

[Gray_Mann]

What if you had a rating system like this. Worst, bad, okay, good, great.

Using your system....

This whole thread is an Okay bordering on Bad. Too many numbers. Would not read again.

 

[CharlesEBrown]

What if you had a rating system like this. Worst, bad, okay, good, great. They are all coded like it is now, so it's the star system, but the user is aware of what it means. Do you think more novels would get the rating "okay". Technically, the color coding on SH should be like a hint, but some people think a four is meh

Nah, the stars are traditional; Royal Road has multiple star ratings for Grammar, Content, Character and a few other things; that has a little more meaning (assuming the ratings aren't being made vindictively) - but it is also complicated (and many just issue a blanket rating anyway).

 

[JayMark]

My tastes are superior to all of yours.

I'll only consider consuming something if it's rated 4.999999999 or higher with multiple praise lavishing reviews. Anything else is obviously not worth my time.

I don't read much, but when I do, it's only the best of the best.

 

[Deleted member 84247]

Using your system....

This whole thread is an Okay bordering on Bad. Too many numbers. Would not read again.

Word, boss

My tastes are superior to all of yours.

I'll only consider consuming something if it's rated 4.999999999 or higher with multiple praise lavishing reviews. Anything else is obviously not worth my time.

I don't read much, but when I do, it's only the best of the best.

I'm impressed to share a space with someone of such grand tastes. Beholding your presence has truly left me awed, mister cow.

 

[Pixytokisaki14]

Time to bite the vampir

 

[Piisfun]

It isn't just Scribble Hub: the same problems apply to any site that uses this sort of rating system.
Yes, even things like ratings of applications of Google Play or products on Amazon.

The worst part isn't "obligatory 5-star reviews" or people downvoting things they don't like (or worse, downvoting anything that looks like a threat, which happens on RoyalRoad all the time). It is "non-response bias," since generally only the users that feel the need to make a statement vote.

If review statistics from Steam are anything to go by, that is about 3% of all readers.

 

[TheEldritchGod]

If it hasn't been addressed, the problem is selection bias.

What stories do you read? Do you just RANDOMLY select a story? NO. You search for a topic that you like. RIGHT THERE YOU ARE PRIMED TO LIKE THE STORY ABOVE AVERAGE. So, even if every randomly selected story was an average of 3, the fact that the stories you read and thus review, are stories that are on topics you like, will bump the average up. And since you cannot Pick 3.5, the average becomes 4.

Thus reviews are on average 4-ish.

I was expecting a thread on star sheets and different map projections of the star system showing why the classification of different parts of the universe into "star systems" is useless. Imagine my disappointment.

I was as well. I mean, I find star systems very useful in organizing where to stock chattel for future red harvests. You go hungry a few times and you start keeping a few spare civilizations tucked away, just in case. Under the mattress... Orbiting Barnard's star... In digital format on a disused and unpopular website's chat board... That sort of thing.

 

[Dark_Phoenix_Zaetyk]

Well i agree with you,this system sucks.... rating something 5 stars you are seriously a liar in my opinion,users with extreme opinion can leave skewed ratings results while two novels can receive a 5 star rating but the reason behind those rating can be different....yeah this system sucks.

 

[owotrucked]

speaking of steam, the objectively superior way to rate something is found in their comment section: the emoji reaction ?

 

[Deleted member 84247]

speaking of steam, the objectively superior way to rate something is found in their comment section: the emoji reaction ?

You calling me dumb?

 

[Corty]

I posted this in discord first, but I decided to do it here. Yes, I made up all of the numbers using intuition, bite me.

I have to say this somewhere, or it will never leave my brain. I am willing to guess that you can mathematically prove that the star system on SH is useless.

In statistics the average is the sum of all variables in a data set, divided by the amount of variables. In a 5 star system you can calculate that the average is 3

(1+2+3+4+5)/5 = 3

Now, keep this in mind. The median (middle number of ascending values) is also 3. But I will use intuition and thought experiment based off numbers I imagined.

I assume most novels mostly get a 5 star rating. The most common occurring number in a data set is called the Mode. Anyway, I bet if you calculated all of the numbers for ratings on SH you would get a median of 5 (Based on a sample like this: 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5, 5,). The mode would also be 5 because it's the most occurring number, and the average would be closer to 4. You could make the statement that "most novels on scribble hub are better than average" and be correct but dishonest.

I missed this post. Anyway, I totally agree.

I am still on the simple rating side:

Thumbs up if you like it and thumbs down if you don't, and do neither if it is meh.

Edit:

Also, when I noticed the thread's title, I thought you were about to drop a mind-fuck conspiracy on us, how the local star system is fake and we live in some flat solar system type of thing.

 

[owotrucked]

You calling me dumb?

you're worse than dumb, you're a league of legends player

speaking of LoL, fictions should be rated with ELO and put into different division

 

[Corty]

speaking of LoL, fictions should be rated with ELO and put into different division

Calm down there, Satan.

 

[SwallowForm]

you're worse than dumb, you're a league of legends player

Damn you killed her she will never emotionally recover from this