Are you at ease with a lengthy answer to a question raised in RG?

Dear George,

It's OK, but I find some answers that are not opinions but results of some very intensive research works, requiring a desk and a whiteboard to discuss. Anyway, thanks for your prompt action.

Regards

Jayanta Kumar Maji

Dear Faramarz,

According to my view, be short and precise writing answer is filled up great content , modest along a ongoing subject matter may be increase your RG.

Some-time relevant topics explained by lengthy answer.

Aparna Sathya Murthy

Dear Prof Seraji ,

I was not used writing length answers when I was a student , but now (un)fortunately used to writing lengthy answer (if need be) . For me it all depends on the question ...

Now, will I read lengthy answers , please don't make say it :) I am used to getting the key words ...

I thank all dears George, Aristidis, Jayanta, Napoleon, Vladimir,

All the colleagues answered my question in a shortest possible form, this is what I meant for. THANKS to all. REGARDS!

Geddada Mohan Narasimha Rao

Thanks to you Aparna for your short answer. I got my point.

Basically, I am not always against lengthy answer, but here in this forum may not be a suitable approach. Good luck!

Abdelfattah Alkhawaja

Thanks Dr,George Stoica for the invitation. surely, a smart lengthy answer, to the point, attracts my interest and I enjoy reading it...

Regards

Michael Issigonis

Not at ease with lengthy answers, rarely read them. prefer short and to the point. Cut unnecessary words, phrases, etc; simply, there is no time to read them.

Occasionally a long answer is needed, like a story with some important message that only few know about. That would be interesting to read.

Dejenie A. Lakew

Short answers might be good as we can extrapolate what has been written, to the extent we want, but sometimes short answers may not explain the ideas what the person might mean and the question request. Some times the length of an answer depends on the type of question.

Krishnan Umachandran

To me I see RG members support, to provide a spark to our search rather than a full length of exhaustive support. Hence, i provide only relevant, short and crisp answer; with the link to the research content, which would be beneficial to the researcher. It is up to them to go further.

If answer are short and precise easy to follow and grasp the matter, further to save the time and patience

Prabhat Ranjan

Short answers are easy to grasp on RG. However, it is not possible to write short answers every time. Long answers are also read patiently if it is enriched of facts. Abreast, short answers are more charming and smart way of telling.

Anjali Nilkanthappa Shete

It depends. Sometimes, very short/brief questions have long answers, and vice-versa. I like to give short answer where possible. Very often, I do bring case studies, examples and resources to the thread.

Mariano Ruiz Espejo

"Lo bueno, si breve, dos veces bueno."

"The good, if brief, two times good."

This is a classic said of Spanish literature.

Rudolf Ritt

You need no time limit. It is self-limiting.

You are not forced to read long answers, and if you are interested in the theme, you may do it.

I prefer short, precise answers.

Hisham K. Hisham

I think this depends on the question, sometimes we need to clarify the explanation of the idea and the others do not need to do so.

Hanifa Zekraoui

It depends on the question. However giving short answer with a link or attached file if necessary, I think it is a good idea.

Goli Srinivasarao

Length of answer depends upon the question. However giving short answer with a link or attached file if necessary.

Han Ping Fung

Are you at ease with a lengthy answer to a question raised in RG?

Short answer is fine for me but need to ensure completeness of information so that the right conclusion / decision is reached. For long answer given, think will be good if the author can summarize into key points / message - just like Executive Summary / Abstract within a report / article.

Very frankly NO, sometimes it happens that we want the related facts about the question raised. We can have an idea about the facts raised . But very lengthy answers I keep on skipping and don't read. If someone is goes on explaing the readers loose interest. That's what I feel. Some of the things we can be listed or summed up for unformation

Romer Castillo

For me, it all depends on the question raised and the answers given. Interest also matters a lot. I also prefer short answers but I also read interesting and informative answers, whatever its length.

Salah Mahdi Najim

I think it depends on the nature of question. Some answers must contain some kind of detailed information to be useful. However, the ultimate goal to be focused on should be the idea which need special skills to deal with.

Dilip Kumar Kundu

Brevity is wisdom. I like short and to-the-point answers. However, answers to some questions like those on methodologies need detailed and complete information to be useful.

I have always tried to present my opinion to a question, rather solve a problem. So, I suppose, giving an opinion on a subject does not require lengthy answers. On the other hand, answering a question for a solution may require long essay accompanied even with some references. Regards !

Dear Emina,

I think we are not here to solve any problem, rather give our opinions and views on a subject. I don't know, I may be wrong !

José Eduardo Jorge

Dear Faramarz:

I agree with you about the time constraint issue. So, as a general rule, the concise answer is perhaps preferable.

There are however some discussions that require a detailed argument, sometimes with data and references. I've seen several interesting threads with long and detailed answers that really deepen on a topic.

Anjali Nilkanthappa Shete

Dear José,

You are right. Long answers are required if a problem is going to be solved, while in here the aim is to present views and opinions. I may be wrong!

Regards !

José Eduardo Jorge

Dear Faramarz:

In my view, some questions point to opinions, but others -perhaps not the majority- pose a problem not to be "solved", but to be analyzed by researchers who are informed on the topics. These discussions are sometimes highly informative.

Hello , The answer By George has most likes cause in few words he has given the correct answer.

Rohit Manilal Parikh

Answer to the point all the time gives the better understanding ,explanation in the right way & also sometime it helps to avoid the confusion . This is of course my opinion & in certain cases if the question is indirectly related to my views & also publication. i take the opportunity to submit my publication only for your perusal for our valued readers & nothing more .

This is my personal opinion

Carlos Eduardo Maldonado

I do read long answers, but I cannot keep reading them on and on. There are some colleagues that cannot write shortly. I wonder whether this is the real aim of participating in forums such as RG.

Ajonok Hano

Here researchers are not asking MCQs questions. MCQs questions answers will be to the point. Here researcher usually asks research questions which need explanation. I think lengthy answers are more preferable in this forum than short answers.

Olakunle J Onaolapo

It depends on the question that was asked. A researcher who is seeking explanation regarding how a procedure should be carried out may need a lenghty explanation.

Dear Colleagues,

I appreciate your answers to my thread, whether lengthy or short. I would not like giving my point of view again and again. In short to say that RG forum is not the place of analytical answers due to time constraints.

Regards !

Dear Napoleon,

The nature of my job dictates me to present long answer to prove my research work wherever needed, while in here there are different expertises gathered to have a common views on various fields and to have some common sense of questions (problems) from different walks of sciencs and technologies.

Regards !

Yoshinori Shiozawa

I am afraid that Faramarz E. Seraji is reducing ResearchGate as an academic substitute of Twitter. RG may play such a role, but to reduce it to a Twitter is not wise idea. RG can be much more important role as an open forum of scholars of all discipline. It can be a new Republic of Letters. It is pity that nobody explicitly argued this possibility.

I have read through all 61 answers. Except Anjali Nilkanthaapa Shete frankly opposed to the Faramarz 's question asking a short and concise answers (and perhaps Aqleem Abbas), there were few people who responded negatively to Faramarz's question. More than half number of respondents answered "yes and no; it depends."

Short, concise and incisive answer is good, but I believe that the idea to limit RG forum to the short answers is a very bad idea and a grave mistake.

As Napoleon Ono Imaah put it,

A lengthy answer says more than what is necessary; a short answer says less than what is necessary.

I admit this as a general tendency. However, many people are aware that the length of answers depends on the nature of questions.

Faramarz himself summarizes in this way.

I have always tried to present my opinion to a question, rather solve a problem. So, I suppose, giving an opinion on a subject does not require lengthy answers. On the other hand, answering a question for a solution may require long essay accompanied even with some references.

José Eduardo Jorge seems to me more constructive. He wrote:

In my view, some questions point to opinions, but others -perhaps not the majority- pose a problem not to be "solved", but to be analyzed by researchers who are informed on the topics. These discussions are sometimes highly informative. (post #47)

Aqleem Abbas also mentioned

Here researchers are not asking MCQs questions.

As Aqleem Abbas points it, there are many researchers who expect RG to be a forum in which we can discuss questions that are still ambiguous, not well defined, but seem very important. Those who are not interested in such discussions can easily neglect them. Faramarz is not requested to read them. Why are you so hasty and want to impose your way of life upon others?

When I was teaching as a professor, I had a custom to say to my students that

(1) information and knowledge are different things, and
(2) there are knowledge that requires an explanation and reading of many pages, and sometimes even hundred of pages. If you do not get a custom and ability to read through books more than 500 pages when necessary, your mind may be full of information, but cannot embrace a deep insight on the world and on the society.

I hope that participants to RG do not reduce it to a kind of Twitter. RG can be a much more important forum.

Dear Prof.Yoshinor, Osaka Univ.,

Highly thanks for your analytical view on my question. Dear Sir, If anybody reads your point of view, would find that whatever you said to Aqleem Abbas that not to impose his way of life upon others, the same way you have objected others why nobody explicitly argued this question. Dear sir, whatever opinion could be, should be tolerated. If suppose you want to make RG as a "Republic of Letters", it's OK, you may increase/decrease the member numbers. At last, you said "Information and knowledge are different things", Exactly this what I have trying to convey> Therefore, the RG should be informative NOT a knowledge platform. At last, you said "Information and knowledge are different things", Exactly this is what I have trying to convey. Therefore, the RG should be informative NOT a knowledge platform. Knowledge should be gained at Universities and Research center by LONG LONG views and reviews by reading and quoting BOOKS after BOOKS.

I'd like to discuss this issue in private if you prefer at [email protected].

Highly Regards,

Faramarz

PS. Sorry, my long answer is due for clarification of my question that has not been received properly, I suppose.

Mahfuz Judeh

If a lengthy answer to a question raised in RG is valuable and enriched with useful information, I can say that it is OK. But sometimes, we find a lengthy answer without added value. Using few words. Best words are few with full indication.

Dear All,

I am watching carefully this interesting discussion thread. Just one note: Nowadays, our sufficiency (or not) to our fields and our communication skills are not depending on our responses to Q&A section of RG net. In any case, I consider that the presence of RG net surely broaden our horizons.

Regards

Dear Aristidis,

Thank you for your view.

Definitely, every question adds to individual information inbox. Let's live it up.

Regards !

Faramarz

Yoshinori Shiozawa

A crucial point we face is that the University system and the Refereed Journal system are not working well now, in economics in particular. This is the deepest reason why many countries are suffering with long depression, huge unemployment and increasing disparity. This is also the reason why we need knowledge creating forum outside of the University.

See, for example, John T. Harvey's recent post in Evonomics

http://evonomics.com/blame-economics-discipline-john-harvey/

Carlos Eduardo Maldonado

Dear friends, as time goes by, we gain new information. I have come close to the idea that WWIII might be close, even though it is uncertain. The whole situation in Syria and Irak makes things troublesome. Russia and the NATO-USA remain suspicious to each other, and a number of maneuvers are being taking that seriously challenge peace.

That said, it is also true that those scenarios are usually taken as war-labs - to prove new weapons, new strategies, etc. Those are, say, real games, period.

Let me remind you about some related questions to this one. Fine answers may be found there.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_makes_an_answer_a_Popular_Answer_on_RG

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_your_way_of_choosing_a_question_that_you_prefer_to_answer

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_answers_are_good_answers_in_your_opinion

Dear All,

Dr. Ahmad: ''I prefer a paragraph (~1000 words).'' Dr. Ahmad is clearest in his response.

Prof. Imaah: "Nothing is great or little otherwise than by comparison." I will try to go a little further with regard to the question. Is it possible the determination of a general rule with regard to a reasonable length of answers? Specifically, is an answer with a paragraph of 1000 words lengthy or short? Personally, I think that this answer is too lengthy. I will not repeat the points of Dr. Faramarz.

In my opinion, an answer with maximum ten lines is short. An answer of more than ten lines tends to be long. Please bear in mind, that I am seeking a general rule, as already said, if possible.

I am waiting for your responses with interest.

Regards

PS. An unavoidable lengthy answer for me.

Dear Aristidis,

I feel like to say that my point of view is not received in a generous way. Some very respected colleagues are scrabbling with words rather give their views on the subject (I don't call it "question", because some may think of solving it). Dear Aristidis, as you say the answer being long or short is a relative matter. I think (or better to say I THOUGHT), RG is a place to exchange views NOT solve problems. The places for solving PROBLEMS are somewhere else.

With best regards

Faramarz

Dear Dr. Seraji,

You are right. I strongly agree that RG is a place to exchange views and not solve problems as you pointed out.

Best regards

My dear friends, Researchgate is scientific network/platform for scientific collaboration. The result of such collaboration is solution to the treated problem.

Yuan-Yeu Yau

If possible, concise and brief answers are preferred. However, some questions such as those from my research field, it is hard to answer with a few lines. It needs to take more than that to clearly convey what I want to say to make people understand. So, it depends.

Dear Colleagues,

I also favor the lengthy specialized research-based questions, while in the case of viewpoints on general subjects, which may be raised by any expertise, the individual answers could be summed up in a single paragraph.

Regards !

Faramarz

Dear all,

So far, I sum-up about 19% answered my question and about 3.4% "liked" it. That's very slim turnup. It's OK, the majority favor long answers. Let's go ahead.

I remain thankful to all the RG members for participating in the discussion.

Regards,

Faramarz

Othman Hussain

To get into the issue deeply I use to post longer answer cause I'm afraid I could miss some important points that should be addressed.

Ranjana Varma

It depend on the questions. Yes we at RG prefer concise and brief answers. But to understand particular problem sometime a longer answers are more preferred over short answers.

Dilip Kumar Kundu

Creativity loves constraints and simplicity is at our core. I think it is better if we can limit our answers to such length that can be consumed easily anywhere, even via mobile text messages.

There is no magical length for an answer and it depends on the nature of question, but a recent survey of Buddy Media revealed that Tweets shorter than 100 characters get a 17% higher engagement rate.

According to Researchgate: What makes a good answer?

"A good answer is a comprehensive and thoughtful response to the original question. Good answers often originate from researchers who can draw on their own research experience. Consider attaching resources that support your answer - such as publications, images, graphs, or links. Before answering your first question on Q&A, please read the Guidelines here..."

https://www.researchgate.net/topics.TopicGuidelines.html

Yoshinori Shiozawa

If one wants a short, concise answer, it suffices that the question poser writes that he or she wants short concise answers.

Seyed Mehdi Mohammadizadeh

Dear Yoshinori,

You are perfectly right. The question poser should also find a suitable place and time for putting up the question(s).

Regards,

Dear Prof Seraji ,

Thank you for your invitation. I concur with Dr. Nirmala S.V.S.G's idea. As she and several of RG members told, It utterly depends on the question.It doesn't important whether the answer is lengthy or small. It should be conveyed appropriately.

Best regards