Question

Asking Good Questions Tutorial
Creator of Tutorial: e.mccormick

Answer 1

A tutorial on asking well so that you can get good help.

Answer 2

You may have heard the phrase that there is no such thing as a stupid question. Well, that comes from the idea that being inquisitive is good. However, questions can be poorly formed. This applies even more when you are online than in person because there are many context queues that are lost.

So, how can you ask better questions?

First, make sure to give people all the basic information they need. If there is some diagram or statement like "For the next three questions..." be sure to include it. While this seems obvious, there have been many times where I have been lost while answering someone when suddenly they said, "Oh, and it says they are parallel lines." or some such fact that is needed to properly answer things.

Second, make sure to explain what you have done, tried had problems with, understood, etc. If I am going to walk someone through a several step problem, it really helps if I know I can skip steps 1 through 5 because you did not have trouble with those. If something uses technical terms, it is good to know if I need to explain them or not. This information is all about helping people know where you have had trouble so that they can help properly. The more they know, the better they can help.

Third, be positive about things. Learning can be very frustrating. If you express that, well, it does not help the process. On the other hand, if you are polite about wanting help, show a willingness to learn, and thank people for their help, it causes the entire experience to be less painful and more productive.

Fourth, try to use proper formatting. Languages use punctuation for very good reasons. The phrases "Let's go eat grandma." and "Let's go eat, grandma." are cannibalism and an invitation with the only difference being a comma! a2+2ab+b2 looks sort of like 2a+2ab+2b, but perhaps you mean a^2+2ab+b^2 or with the math formatting system \(a^2+2ab+b^2\). And code quoting systems can really help computer science questions (``` above and below a question, http://dpaste.com , or http://pastebin.com .)

Here are some short examples.

The bad way:
What is the derivative of x^2-9?

See, that is just asking for the answer, which is not really going to help. This is especially true if it does not answer what you really need answered.

Here would be something better:

I am studying the limit definition of the derivative and I get the whole approaching 0 part, but how do I put \(x^2-9\) into the f(x) and f(x-h) formula to find its derivative?

This is more clear. It talks about what you are specifically studying, what you know, and where the particular problem is. You are also asking for help with the process, not the end result.


Now for another example.

Bad:

I have Python 2.5 and I am supposed to do a hello world function, but it is not working. What am I doing wrong?

OK, you said what programming language and even the version. You also asked for hat is going wrong, not for the answer. However, what you have tried is missing!

I have Python 2.5 and I am supposed to do a hello world function, but it is not working. Here is my code:

http://pastebin.com/J9Bdb358

What am I doing wrong?

(Or you could have used the inline code quote with ``` [the one with the ~ on the key] above and below the code block)

```
def greeting():
message = "Hello World!"
print(message)

greeting()
```

See how this is almost the same question but also shows what has been tried?

I am sure you can see how you could apply similar ideas to say an English question on the classics where you explain what it is you do not understand, be it the language, etc. or to a chemistry question where you can explain what you have tried for balancing an equation so that someone could help you fix your mistakes, or any other subject.

The better your questions, the easier it is for people to give good answers. This makes it really worth it to take a little more time when asking.

Answer 3

You can also adapt this to asking online in general. If you ask a teacher in an online class a question, they will want to know the same things. They will want to see what you have done and where you are stuck. If you send an email to a co-worker or boss about an issue, they will want to hear about why it is a problem and what solutions have been tried so far. You may not need to map out every little detail, but you do need to give enough information that people don't have to ask a bunch of questions before they can answer yours.

Answer 4

@bm717 Tips for asking questions xD

Answer 5

thanks