{"id":20649,"date":"2011-04-03T20:41:52","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T02:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=20649"},"modified":"2011-04-03T20:41:52","modified_gmt":"2011-04-04T02:41:52","slug":"its-full-of-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/04\/03\/its-full-of-stars.html","title":{"rendered":"It’s full of stars …"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the very cool things about the Internet is social sites — places where people can get together and share their opinions of stuff. \u00a0Interested in a restaurant, a book, a movie, a hotel, a plumber, a washing machine — you can find folks reviewing their experiences. \u00a0So when I am looking for a new computer, for example, I might hit Amazon (which has the largest aggregate population), Best Buy (if they sell it), and CNet (which will give me both editor ratings and reader ratings).<\/p>\n

The biggest problem is — as with student grading and performance reviews — making sure that comparisons are apples-to-apples. \u00a0Add to that people filing reviews either when they (a) really hate something and want to bitch about it, or (b) really want to joint the bandwagon on popular stuff.<\/p>\n

The most common grading scale is “stars,” usually 5 of them. \u00a0 But what they mean varies from site to site. Amazon’s scaling is the most common:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. I hate it.<\/li>\n
  2. I don’t like it.<\/li>\n
  3. It’s OK.<\/li>\n
  4. I like it.<\/li>\n
  5. I love it.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Now, that makes a lot of sense, on one level. \u00a0It’s a nice mirror — 3 is in the middle (“It’s okay”), then spreading out by one provides a dis\/affection (“I [don’t] like it”), and going to either end provides the extreme reaction (“I hate\/love it”).<\/p>\n

    Goodreads, on the other hand, assumes that most of the books you’ve chosen to read you’re going to like to some degree. Because you’ve already done a first pass at “rating” by acquiring the book in the first place. \u00a0It’s rating scale:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. I didn’t like it.<\/li>\n
    2. It was OK.<\/li>\n
    3. I liked it.<\/li>\n
    4. I really liked it.<\/li>\n
    5. It was amazing.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      I actually like this grading scale, because it opens up that “like” end of things. \u00a0For a book, it’s not necessary to say much more than that I didn’t like it — various gradations of dislike\/hate aren’t really necessary. \u00a0But for a recommendation, knowing whether it was “just” okay, or likeable, or really likeable, or amazing, is actually useful information. \u00a0It means I can give some shades of gray, reserve the top rating for just the things that are so awesome I run around pushing the book into other people’s hands.<\/p>\n

      (Nevertheless, the books on Goodreads still tend to get ratings in the 4-5 range, which tells me either that people are really liking the books they read, or else are still engaging in grade inflation — “It was awesome!<\/em>” — or that they are using the more symmetric \/ less nuanced Amazon scale).<\/p>\n

      What do you think? Are these sorts of ratings of value? Is a symmetric grading scale better or worse than one that provides more gradations for one side or the other?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      One of the very cool things about the Internet is social sites — places where people can get together and share their opinions of stuff. \u00a0Interested in a restaurant, a book, a movie, a hotel, a plumber, a washing machine — you can find folks reviewing their experiences. \u00a0So when I am looking for a … Continue reading “It’s full of stars …”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media-books"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":29960,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/08\/25\/this-review-its-full-of-stars.html","url_meta":{"origin":20649,"position":0},"title":"This review … IT'S FULL OF STARS!","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 25-Aug-12 1:58pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I actually really like (and tend to use) the Goodreads 5-star rating, which spreads out the positive scores (1=poor, 2=okay, 3=like, 4=really like, 5=amazing). \u00a0It allows for a bit more gradation of likability, but it's the opposite of the below.Using average star ratings\u00a0for judging something is always dicey, though, as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26335,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/12\/dave-does-the-comics-issue-28-12-feb-2012.html","url_meta":{"origin":20649,"position":1},"title":"***Dave Does the Comics – Issue 28 (12 Feb 2012)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 12-Feb-12 6:09pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Time for yet another weekly installment of rollicking comic book reviews by Yours Truly. \u00a0Some good stuff this week, some not-so-good, and the final issue of a comic that will truly be missed. Hover over the covers below to see the ratings out of 5 stars (with an occasional comment).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "***Dave Does the Comics"","block_context":{"text":"***Dave Does the Comics","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-comics\/dave-does-the-comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Batwoman_full_6-665x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Batwoman_full_6-665x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Batwoman_full_6-665x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":44924,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/09\/05\/nice-ratings-you-got-here-shame-if-they-got-deleted.html","url_meta":{"origin":20649,"position":2},"title":"Nice ratings you got here. Shame if they got deleted","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 5-Sep-14 8:38am","format":false,"excerpt":"So is Yelp extorting business (in a de facto, if now officially not de jure) fashion, by tweaking reviews (negatively or favorably) based on whether those business don't or do buy advertising?The article is too full of sound bites to tell. Yelp apparently re-orders reviews (dodgy but not beyond the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9319,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/07\/29\/bt06_trade_pape.html","url_meta":{"origin":20649,"position":3},"title":"BT06 – Trade Paperbacks","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 29-Jul-06 7:03am","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the biggest changes in the last decade or so of the comics industry is the shifting of attention to Trade Paperbacks (TPBs) -- sometimes called Graphic Novels (but...","rel":"","context":"In "Blogathon"","block_context":{"text":"Blogathon","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/blogathon"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32383,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/02\/02\/dave-does-the-comics-issue-48-2-february-2013.html","url_meta":{"origin":20649,"position":4},"title":"***Dave Does the Comics – Issue 48 (2 February 2013)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 2-Feb-13 3:50pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow. A whole trunk-load of comics in January (plus first week of February, plus some leftovers from time away over the holidays). So many, many reviews, and a longer podcast than usual. I hope you enjoy. [powerpress] The covers below are for the issues I gave an individual review of;\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "***Dave Does the Comics"","block_context":{"text":"***Dave Does the Comics","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-comics\/dave-does-the-comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Thief-of-Thieves-Vol-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Thief-of-Thieves-Vol-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Thief-of-Thieves-Vol-1.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Thief-of-Thieves-Vol-1.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":28678,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/07\/29\/dave-does-the-comics-issue-41-29-july-2012.html","url_meta":{"origin":20649,"position":5},"title":"***Dave Does the Comics – Issue 41 (29 July 2012)","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 29-Jul-12 5:23pm","format":false,"excerpt":"This week it's an ALL-STAR OLYMPICS SPECIAL of all 4- and 5-star comics. \u00a0Also known as \"Playing catch-up big time on my reviews, so lets' just talk about the best of the best. The podcast playback button is at the bottom of the post. The covers below are for the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "***Dave Does the Comics"","block_context":{"text":"***Dave Does the Comics","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-comics\/dave-does-the-comics"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/rachel-rising_9.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/rachel-rising_9.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/rachel-rising_9.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20649\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}