Politics Sheep: 4th Term
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#54
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Re: Politics Sheep: 4th Term
If scoring a 5 on the AP U.S. History exam was one of the highest points of my life, then struggling to answer these damn questions must surely be my lowest.
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#59
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Re: Politics Sheep: 4th Term
- The assumption is that you will not use Google, Wikipedia, etc. You may choose to do so. However, if you so choose, you must indicate each answer for which you have used an outside resource by placing an asterisk (*) before the answer. You will be penalized one point for your first asterisked answer, two points for your second asterisked answer, four points for your third asterisked answer, and so on.
#61
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Re: Politics Sheep: 4th Term
Here's a not-so-hypothetical hypothetical question.
Let's say one of the Sheep questions was "Name a President depicted on Mt. Rushmore." There are four correct answers -- George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt.
Now, let's say somebody sent in "Abraham Jefferson" as their answer.
My first inclination was to count that as wrong (since it's a sheep question, that just means it wouldn't match anything). A little disappointing to those people who answered with Lincoln or Jefferson and would have had one more match, but it is what it is.
However, there have been three people who sent in ambiguous answers. In each case, I have PM'ed the person and said "You need to be more specific in your answer to _____________."
So is it unfair of me to just mark the Abraham Jefferson answer as wrong when I've given people who said ambiguous things a chance to clarify? After all, "Abraham Jefferson" is not wrong in the way that, say "Jimmy Carter" would be. Carter is not on Mount Rushmore. It's a wrong answer. On the other hand, the person who said Abraham Jefferson probably meant either Lincoln or Jefferson, either one of which would be a right answer.
I think the answer is that there's a difference between ambiguous and wrong, so it's not unfair of me to treat the two differently. But I guess you can all take this as an opportunity to double-check the answers you sent me to make sure you don't have your own "Abrahm Jefferson" situation.
Let's say one of the Sheep questions was "Name a President depicted on Mt. Rushmore." There are four correct answers -- George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt.
Now, let's say somebody sent in "Abraham Jefferson" as their answer.
My first inclination was to count that as wrong (since it's a sheep question, that just means it wouldn't match anything). A little disappointing to those people who answered with Lincoln or Jefferson and would have had one more match, but it is what it is.
However, there have been three people who sent in ambiguous answers. In each case, I have PM'ed the person and said "You need to be more specific in your answer to _____________."
So is it unfair of me to just mark the Abraham Jefferson answer as wrong when I've given people who said ambiguous things a chance to clarify? After all, "Abraham Jefferson" is not wrong in the way that, say "Jimmy Carter" would be. Carter is not on Mount Rushmore. It's a wrong answer. On the other hand, the person who said Abraham Jefferson probably meant either Lincoln or Jefferson, either one of which would be a right answer.
I think the answer is that there's a difference between ambiguous and wrong, so it's not unfair of me to treat the two differently. But I guess you can all take this as an opportunity to double-check the answers you sent me to make sure you don't have your own "Abrahm Jefferson" situation.
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Re: Politics Sheep: 4th Term
In - this is going to be bad since many reverse I knew 1 or 2 answers or just guessed.
Hoping my #2 comes through due to past sheep answers that were winners but incorrect.
And I can only name one anyway
Hoping my #2 comes through due to past sheep answers that were winners but incorrect.


#64
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Re: Politics Sheep: 4th Term
hmm...checked my answers. I gave only last names for a lot of them. I'd say if you were willing to give them the beneift of the doubt, mark it as Jefferson because if they had just said "Jefferson" you would have counted it.
#66
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Politics Sheep: 4th Term
JasonF, as someone who's run four of these things, I can tell you that it's
tell you that it's much easier when you give people the benefit of the doubt.
tell you that it's much easier when you give people the benefit of the doubt.
#70
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Re: Politics Sheep: 4th Term
It's more like if the question were "Name one of the two major treaty organizations of the Cold War" and they said "North Atlantic Pact." Do they mean NATO or do they mean the Warsaw Pact?
Like I said, I'm inclined to mark it as wrong unless they send me a correction. If they don't, we can all laugh and point when the results are announced.
#71
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Re: Politics Sheep: 4th Term
Also, it occurs to me that when I ran Comic Book Sheep, the Bus submitted as one of his answers something like "That recent World War involving all the Marvel superheroes." Marvel had recently done an event called World War Hulk and another called Civil War. I assumed the Bus meant World War Hulk and gave him the benefit of the doubt rather than simply marking it wrong, but it turned out he had meant Civil War.
What is a sheepmaster to do?
What is a sheepmaster to do?
#73
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Politics Sheep: 4th Term
The problem is that this is an answer where the benefit of the doubt could mean that they meant one of two different things, either one of which would be a correct answer, and either one of which would give them (and the other people who answered one of those two things) a different score. It's not quite as simple as screwing up a first name.
It's more like if the question were "Name one of the two major treaty organizations of the Cold War" and they said "North Atlantic Pact." Do they mean NATO or do they mean the Warsaw Pact?
Like I said, I'm inclined to mark it as wrong unless they send me a correction. If they don't, we can all laugh and point when the results are announced.
It's more like if the question were "Name one of the two major treaty organizations of the Cold War" and they said "North Atlantic Pact." Do they mean NATO or do they mean the Warsaw Pact?
Like I said, I'm inclined to mark it as wrong unless they send me a correction. If they don't, we can all laugh and point when the results are announced.
#74
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Re: Politics Sheep: 4th Term
So it has been written, so it shall be done.
#75
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Re: Politics Sheep: 4th Term
I decided to e-mail the relevant player and tell him that the Abrahm Jefferson hypothetical was in reference to one of his answers. I did not tell him which answer. We will see if he figures it out and changes his answer; if not, it will only match another "Abraham Jefferson," should anyone else submit that answer.
All you people who answered with Abraham Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson, get ready to grumble that he really meant to match your answer and so you should get the extra point.
All you people who answered with Abraham Lincoln or Thomas Jefferson, get ready to grumble that he really meant to match your answer and so you should get the extra point.