re: st: comments on replying to lists

[Kit Baum <baum@bc.edu>]

< >
Maarten said

I don't think that that is a good idea. I like to keep answering
questions on Stata out of the personal sphere. I am no consultant and I
have no intention to be one, but if I have some time to spare I am
willing give my 5 cents worth. I find that by responding on the list
instead of personally I keep those two worlds separate.


I would echo Maarten's sentiments. A number of people contact me  
directly, and I often either (a) reply to them and post to the list,  
or (b) tell them they should ask the question on the list.  One thing  
that should be evident is that if you want the most rapid response to  
your question, asking an individual (who may be on holiday, asleep, at  
work actually working rather than reading Statalist, etc.) rather than  
the list is inefficient. There are correspondents on the list in  
almost every time zone, and a question posed at an inconvenient hour  
in your time zone may evoke an answer for someone who is in the middle  
of their day. Likewise, my Sunday is Sydney's or Tokyo's Monday...

Kit Baum, Boston College Economics and DIW Berlin
http://ideas.repec.org/e/pba1.html
An Introduction to Modern Econometrics Using Stata:
http://www.stata-press.com/books/imeus.html


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