What are the top five reasons why so low a percentage of the
questions asked get answered by the Google researchers. Please present
in order of relevance. You may use my previously asked and unanswered
questions as a example as none have been answered.

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Request for Question Clarification by pinkfreud-ga on 09 Jul 2004 13:14 PDT

Determining the top five reasons why questions may remain unanswered
isn't something that can be determined objectively. Will you accept a
Researcher's speculation?

Greetings, maluca!

Below are the main reasons that Questions remain UnAnswered, according
to an unofficial study by a few Researchers:

1) The listing fee is too low for the amount of time and effort which
would be required to Answer the Question properly.

2) The Question is too vague; it does not contain enough details to
accurately provide a definitive Answer, and no response is ever made
to Requests for Clarification posted by Researchers.

3) The Question has already been Answered in Comments and
Clarifications, and no Researcher feels that they can post an Answer
which will substantially improve upon the information which has
already been posted.

4) The Question asks for information (or an item) which is extremely
hard to find, or which does not exist.

5) The information can be found, but must be purchased (Questions
requesting free or cheap access to information or software provided by
specialty companies for hundreds -- or even thousands of dollars --
are rather common).

6) The Question asks for "all" of something, or a "complete"
collection or list of something, which is so vast that a complete
Answer is impossible.

7) The Question concerns a subject which is not clear-cut, and which
can only be Answered subjectively (with an opinion); for instance,
questions about religion, why people do the things that they do, the
"best" of something, etc.

8) The Question requires extremely specialized information from an
expert in that particular field (while we have many experts here on a
wide variety of subjects, including archaeology, cooking, dogs,
airplanes, computers, history, languages, etc., not all subjects have
a Researcher who is an expert in that area).

9) The Question contains multiple Questions, some of which can be
easily Answered and some of which can only be Answered with much
difficulty or not at all

10) The wording of the Question makes it clear that the Customer wants
an Answer which supports a n erroneous hypothesis (for example,
documentation proving that the Earth is flat and that the Sun revolves
around the Earth).


Regarding your Questions:


Immune System 
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=363240
  7) Question asks for a subjective opinion

Zinc and Inflammation 
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=363169
  3) Answered in Comments

Need niacin free vitamins 
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=359454
  4) Item which is hard-to-find or nonexistent

Tracking Stocks 
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=282094
  9) Multiple Questions, 
      one of which is 3) Answered in Comments
      and the other which is 4) Hard to find
                         and 7) Subjective

People
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=278027
  7) Question asks for a subjective opinion

Trademark and company name protection 
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=226852
  2) Insufficient information for a definitive Answer
  and possibly 1) Listing fee is too low for the time and effort required


Before Rating my Answer, if you have any Questions about the above
information, please post a Request for Clarification, and I will be
glad to see what I can do for you.

Regards,

aceresearcher

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Request for Answer Clarification by maluca-ga on 09 Jul 2004 22:22 PDT

Within a few minutes of my posting the question it was locked. The
next day Pinkfreud requested a clarification. Hours after Pinkfreud,
Aceresearcher posted a response as a answer to the question. Was
Pinkfreud one of the researchers consulted for the response and if
not, prior to my responding to the answer, would she like to respond.
I am willing to not only accept her speculation but pay the same fee
for it. More following the response to this.

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Clarification of Answer by aceresearcher-ga on 09 Jul 2004 22:35 PDT

maluca, 

My apologies for the long delay in receiving a response to your
Question. Neither pinkfreud nor I had access to your Question until
shortly before she posted a Request for Clarification and I posted an
Answer.

I'll let Pink know about your request, so she can post a response for you here.

ace

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Request for Answer Clarification by maluca-ga on 09 Jul 2004 22:47 PDT

Ace: The reason I brought up the timing issue was not due to my
thinking to much had passed before it was answered. Someone locked the
question and then Pink asked for clairification. You ended up
answering the question?? Who should I respond to. See where I am
headed?

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Clarification of Answer by aceresearcher-ga on 10 Jul 2004 02:55 PDT

Sometimes we Researchers will post a Request for Clarification if we
do not feel comfortable writing an Answer without more information.
Once your Question became available, Pink did just that. However,
having read all of your other Questions and Comments, I felt
comfortable in writing an Answer that I felt would meet your needs,
and I did so -- everything that you had posted on Google Answers thus
far seemed to indicate to me that you knew this was not a
cut-and-dried Question and were receptive to a somewhat speculative
Answer. Since I was the one who Answered your Question, you would
respond to me.

Thanks,

ace

Thanks for your very good "unofficial" response". I do disagree with
your reasoning for my questions not being answered. I have struggled
with how to respond and have come to the conclusion it is a great site
in need of a bit more documentation in FAQ and a few more options for
Researchers in responding. This site has excellent "bones" but I can't
help but feel its a trial version. But without a doubt Researchers
should be capable of informing those asking questions of why the
question is not being answered by the Researchers. The best solution
IMHO would be an active FAQ where we could ask questions that have not
been addressed in how to best use this service. I can't help but
imagine a Dilbert type pointy haired boss saying.."and the best part
is they pay to ask questions on how it works". The question should be
handled as if the dialog was going on face to face. In that case if
someone committed one of the question killing actions listed they
should be guided not left hanging. Imagine if this was how society
other than teenagers and parents communicated. ;) Walk away with no
explanation and the person asking the question is clueless.

Maluca,

Often one Researcher will post a request for clarification, and
another Researcher will post an official answer to a question. I did
not lock your question after I posted my request for clarification, so
the question was fully to any and all Researchers.

I think Ace has done a very thorough job of describing reasons why
questions sometimes remain unanswered. I can't think of a thing to add
to Ace's response.

Best regards,
Pink

In my comment above, I omitted a word. For "so the question was fully
to any and all Researchers," please read "so the question was fully
open to any and all Researchers."

Sometimes the fingers type faster than the mind thinks. ;-)

Pinkfreud: Do you agree with Aceresearchers conclusions as to why my
questions were not answered? Your response was not clear in this
regard. I consider this two Researchers answering so will pay the same
fee to you both.

Here are my observations on your current open questions. These are
entirely my own views. Others, of course, may see things very
differently.

I hope I don't sound rude here; it is definitely not my intention to
be dismissive of your questions, which are quite interesting and
challenging. But here are my honest speculations on some possible
reasons why you have not yet received answers.

==========

Immune System
http://www.answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=363240

You seem to be asking for confirmation of the hypothesis that, since
autoimmune diseases such as arthritis involve the immune system
attacking the body, that it would be better to have a weak immune
system. I doubt that any knowledgable Researcher would agree with this
hypothesis; a weak immune system would leave the body vulnerable to
infection. Treatment of autoimmune diseases sometimes involves
deliberately disabling the immune system, which can place the patient
in grave danger if an infectious agent enters the body.

When a question seeks confirmation of a theory, and Researchers are
not able to offer such confirmation, this often results in an
unanswered question.

==========

Zinc and Inflammation 
http://www.answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=363169

You're asking for a medical opinion on a possible interrelationship
between zinc and urethral inflammation. Here again, unless a
Researcher is able to find evidence confirming your hypothesis, it's
likely that the question will remain unanswered. An interesting
comment has been posted, however.

==========

Need niacin free vitamins 
http://www.answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=359454

This was a toughie! I spent several hours on it without success. I
notice that you have asked Google Answers Researcher hummer-ga to post
an answer (which hummer hasn't yet done). Another Researcher is
unlikely to override your request.