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BaldFriede View Drop Down
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Joined: June 02 2005
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Points: 10266 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Impossible average album rating
    Posted: January 09 2008 at 07:34
Someone has to explain to me how the average rating of http://www.progarchives.com/album.asp?id=5037 can be 4.25 with only 2 ratings. Unless there is a new definition of "average" this is impossible. Confused


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MikeEnRegalia View Drop Down
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Points: 21596 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 09 2008 at 08:00
Do you know that M@x recently (a couple of months ago) introduced a weighted average calculation? The average is not simply the arithmetic mean value of all the ratings anymore. But the value seems a bit too high ... maybe there is something wrong with the calculation, or M@x changed it again. In any case it would be better if there was an explanation on the page ...
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Ricochet View Drop Down
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Points: 46301 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 09 2008 at 08:09
well it seems the average is made between a rate and a review. I don't specifically remember M@X's parameters, but it sure seems a review's rate is higher treated than a rate's ... rate.

If not, it shouldn't.

Therefore the average, having in M@X's changes/new algorithm, could be valid.
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BaldFriede View Drop Down
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Points: 10266 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 09 2008 at 08:25
Well, the mathematician in me screams out against this abuse of the word "average". I think I get the idea of weighting; it is to keep fan boys and hate groups down; however, I think these will self-eliminate in the long run. And it is simply not fair towards albums that are not well known; this kind of weighted rating definitely is in favour of well known albums.
I suggest the following method instead: As long as the number of ratings stays below a certain figure (say twenty), you use normal average. As soon as an album passes this mark you use weighted average. That way fanboys can be kept down pretty well. An album with only a few ratings certainly can't be accused of having the fanboy factor. And a single fanboy would certainly give the same number of stars all the time.

Edited by BaldFriede - January 09 2008 at 08:25


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MikeEnRegalia View Drop Down
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Points: 21596 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 09 2008 at 18:58
This album is indeed an example of "fanboyism" ... if only just a mild one. You have one review with 4 stars, and one anonymous rating with 5 stars. Ratings with reviews count 3 times more than anonymous ratings, so the calculation is (3*4+5)/4 = 4.25. Had the seond person also written a review along with the rating, the resulting average would have been higher.
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Dean View Drop Down
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Points: 37575 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 09 2008 at 19:32
^ and there's a certain irony in that.
What?
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MikeEnRegalia View Drop Down
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Points: 21596 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 09 2008 at 19:42
Is there? I don't see why it's wrong to reward reviews. I'm sure that the percentage of extreme ratings (1/5 stars) is much higher for anonymous ratings than for ratings with reviews.
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King Crimson776 View Drop Down
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Points: 2779 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 11 2008 at 01:18
I gave this one album 5 stars and the rating went down. How do you explain that?
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MikeEnRegalia View Drop Down
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Points: 21596 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 11 2008 at 02:43
The album page still shows 2 ratings.
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