What do the WikiAnswers Guidelines mean when they refer to 'posts that do not specifically answer or address questions'?

Answer 1

Answer 1

That means giving an answer that is about the question, but does not give a direct answer. This leaves the question unanswered.

Here is an example for this very question:

The guidlines are placed in Wikianswers to help with the smooth running of this forum. Failure to abide by these guidelines can result in the posters reprimand, or even cancellation of the post.

See.....?

Answer 2

General Issue

What WikiAnswers is referring to with this guideline is answers that do not actually discuss the thing that the questioner asked. Usually a questioner is fairly specific about what information they would like to know. Prior to answering a question, make sure that you know what information the question is seeking in order to avoid tangents. If you wish to discuss something in excess of what the particular question asks, there are two possible options:

1) You are more than welcome to write a question that discusses that particular thing. Then answer it as you would like. Finally, you can make that question into a Related Question to the original question.

2) You can comment on it in the Discussion Section. However, since Discussions are often lost in question mergers, it is probably better to do option 1.

How to Identify Problems

However, it may be difficult to figure out what the difference is between information that is (1) central to the answer, (2) more explicative of the answer, but still relevant, and (3) tangential information that is irrelevant. Answers with information in categories (1) & (2) are good answers and should remain untouched. Category (3) type information falls into the "posts that do not specifically answer or address questions".

When in doubt, the easiest way to tell if something belongs to each category (1), (2), or (3), is the answer to the question "If this was the only information in the answer, would the question be satisfactorily answered?" If it is a (1), the answer will be "yes". If it is a (2), you will be able to infer the answer, although it may not be directly stated. If it is a (3), the question will be completely unanswered.

Let's examine an example:

Q: Is the sun red at sunset?

A: Yes. The sun is red at sunset. The reason for this is that when the sun is lower in the sky, the rays of light have a lower angle of incidence resulting in a different diffraction in the atmosphere and can be explained by Snell's Law. Snell's law is attributed to Willebrord Snellius, a Dutch optician living in the city of Leiden in the Netherlands.

The first two sentences are category (1) since they directly answer the question: Yes. The sun is red at sunset.

The third sentence is category (2) since it elaborates on the nature and reason for the red color, demonstrating why it occurs at sunset: The reason for this is that when the sun is lower in the sky, the rays of light have a lower angle of incidence resulting in a different diffraction in the atmosphere and can be explained by Snell's Law.

The fourth sentence is category (3) because it discusses the life of a person who is not himself directly relevant to the sun's color at sunset. It could also be made into the answer to the question "Who is Snell's Law attributed to?": Snell's law is attributed to Willebrord Snellius, a Dutch optician living in the city of Leiden in the Netherlands.

How to Resolve the Problem

If you wanted to improve the answer according to Option 1, the answer to Q: Is the sun red at sunset? would become the following:

A: Yes. The sun is red at sunset. The reason for this is that when the sun is lower in the sky, the rays of light have a lower angle of incidence resulting in a different diffraction in the atmosphere and can be explained by Snell's Law.

To read more about Snell's Law, please see the Related Question below.

Then a new question titled Q: Who is Snell's Law attributed to? would be created with the following answer: Snell's law is attributed to Willebrord Snellius, a Dutch optician living in the city of Leiden in the Netherlands.

This new question would then be linked to the original question.