st: intro social science stats book

[Kit Baum <baum@bc.edu>]

Suzy wrote a very interesting post about SPSS/SAS/Stata, and said

Off the beaten track somewhat, but something that  might be helpful in
the long run for encouraging  new Stata users, which I've suggested once
before and I'll bring it up again. It might be nice to also have a
beginner/student Stata listserv - something just a bit more
newbie/student friendly. By that I mean  a little more easy-going, not
too protocol intensive, a place where perhaps more basic questions can
be just  asked and answered without too much fuss or concern. I truly
believe that many students  simply can't afford the manuals, don't know
where to look for information, and truly do not have the time to spend
looking for an answer that is perhaps easy to find (for those with
extended exposure to the world of Stata). Since younger people tend to
use the Internet and listservs quite a bit, their first exposure to
Statalist might be a bit of a shocker  - I know it was for me and I'm
not that young. Nonetheless, I got over it, learned the basic rules, and
try to follow them as best as I can. However, not all students may be so
inclined.



I am not sure that there would be much incentive for "the usual  
suspects" who respond to questions on Statalist to subscribe to such  
a list. I'll let people like Nick Cox, Mark Schaffer and Clive  
Nicholas offer their own views, but I would think that staying  
abreast of _two_ lists might be somewhat much to ask. Furthermore, I  
take it that you are concerned about the "bit of a shocker" aspect of  
posters who respond to questions somewhat brusquely, or even with  
some hint of annoyance.

That annoyance is often well deserved. Agreed, many people can't  
afford the manuals, and many who have them do not have them within  
arm's length at a point in time. That is excusable. But not being  
able to figure out how to use the on-line help is not. Perhaps the  
acronym should be "RTFOLH."  If one can send email to Statalist, one  
can use "findit" or "search", tools that many posters do not bother  
to try before asking the q on Statalist. People ask "does Stata do  
the x y z procedure?" when it happens that "findit x y z" retrieves a  
quite useful list of references. I don't think that there is any way  
that knowledgeable respondents will not find that sort of post a bit  
annoying.

Also annoying are those who say, contrary to the good advice of the  
Statalist FAQ, "I tried this command and it didn't work" without  
providing any of the diagnostic information that might allow a well- 
meaning respondent to say something helpful.

And messages from those who post "winmail.dat", HTML-encoded mail,  
etc. --repeatedly in many cases--are immediate candidates for the  
circular file.

These are aspects of etiquette that are relevant to many listservs,  
not just Statalist. So creating a "kinder, gentler Statalist" where  
responders might have more tolerance for manners better suited to the  
fast-food joint than the fancy restaurant could be done, but it may  
be a land where the one-eyed person is king.

Kit Baum, Boston College Economics
http://ideas.repec.org/e/pba1.html


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