3
$\begingroup$

We closed the question What are some possible career options? but not the one on Essential reads for people interested in actuary and actuarial science. It seems to me that while the first one is explicitly about careers the second one is also fairly close to the topic of careers.

If my assessment makes sense to all of you then we either re-open the first one (and make career questions on-topic) or close the second one as well (and keep career questions off-topic).

$\endgroup$

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
4
$\begingroup$

The second one was specifically about books on actuarial science which has specific answers and should be CW. We've had other questions on what books are best on topic x before, and provided they are CW these seem to be helpful and appropriate. My only query on the question was whether actuarial science was within the scope, but elsewhere on meta the consensus seemed to be that it was.

The first question you mention was very vague and general about advice for someone wanting to become a statistician and whether doing a BS is appropriate. This seems to me to be a completely different sort of question and not really appropriate for the site.

$\endgroup$
8
  • $\begingroup$ Agree.......... $\endgroup$
    – user88
    Aug 6, 2010 at 0:26
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ Fair enough. However, I do have a suggestion. Could the moderators (i.e., you, mbq and cgillespie) only cast the final vote to close questions? Your votes will close a question immediately. It seems to me that the community will not have a say in what to do if a moderator votes to close as one of the first four voters. $\endgroup$
    – svadali
    Aug 6, 2010 at 0:37
  • $\begingroup$ @Srikant. Since becoming a moderator I've stopped voting on closing questions (apart from this one) for exactly the reasons you state. I don't want to appear heavy-handed. So in principle I agree. With this specific question, mbq and Shane had already indicated they thought it should be closed, and I didn't think there was any doubt about it, so I acted faster than I would have in other circumstances. But I accept your point. $\endgroup$
    – Rob Hyndman
    Aug 6, 2010 at 0:46
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ I've almost asked a similar question myself, but I suspected it would meet this fate. Is there an appropriate place to ask questions like this (and that would elicit the same quality of responses as this site)? $\endgroup$
    – Matt Parker
    Aug 6, 2010 at 1:32
  • $\begingroup$ Maybe groups.google.com/group/sci.stat.consult would be an appropriate place. I'll add a comment on the original question. $\endgroup$
    – Rob Hyndman
    Aug 6, 2010 at 2:27
  • $\begingroup$ @srikant: I've also stopped voting to close questions, except for the final vote. However, I did accidentally cast a vote twice - once before I was moderator and another to close the question. $\endgroup$
    – csgillespie
    Aug 6, 2010 at 8:01
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @csgillespie Thanks @all Perhaps, our faq should have a list of sites we can redirect posters for off-topic questions. $\endgroup$
    – svadali
    Aug 6, 2010 at 11:59
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ I've already started a list of alternative sites in the FAQ. Please add any others you think are appropriate. $\endgroup$
    – Rob Hyndman
    Aug 6, 2010 at 13:59

You must log in to answer this question.