Changes

A rough formula to measure the liberal style of a passage, adapted to Wiki-style websites, is

A rough formula to measure the liberal style of a passage, adapted to Wiki-style websites, is

::<math>\textrm{Liberality} = C_0 \cdot \frac{\textrm{TalkPst}}{\textrm{MainPst}} + C_1 \cdot \frac{\textrm{TalkWd}}{\textrm{TalkPst}} + C_2 \cdot \left( \lambda \cdot \textrm{LibWd} - \textrm{ConWd} \right) + C_3 \,\textrm{LibPhr}^2 + C_4 \, \sqrt{\textrm{LastWdProp}-\frac{1}{2}} </math>,

::<math>\textrm{Liberality} = C_0 \cdot \frac{\textrm{TalkPst}}{\textrm{MainPst}} + C_1 \cdot \frac{\textrm{TalkWd}}{\textrm{TalkPst}} + C_2 \cdot \left( \frac{\lambda \cdot \textrm{LibWd} - \textrm{ConWd}}{\textrm{MainPst}+\textrm{TalkPst}} \right) + C_3 \,\left( \frac{\textrm{LibPhr}}{\textrm{MainPst}+\textrm{TalkPst}} \right)^2 + C_4 \, \sqrt{\textrm{LastWdProp}-\frac{1}{2}} </math>,

where:

where:

* MainPst = number of posts to mainspace pages.

* MainPst = number of posts to mainspace pages.

* LibPhr = number of uses of liberal favorite phrases identified in [[Liberal style]], such as "silence speaks volumes" and "reflects poorly on the site"

* LibPhr = number of uses of liberal favorite phrases identified in [[Liberal style]], such as "silence speaks volumes" and "reflects poorly on the site"

* LastWdProp = proportion of Talk page discussions in which a user makes the last post in a section (i.e., == ... ==).  Values greater than 1/2 indicate a tendency towards last-wordism.  When the value inside the square root is negative this should be understood as 0.  N.B.: since this number is less than 1, taking the square root serves to ''increase'' the penalty.

* LastWdProp = proportion of Talk page discussions in which a user makes the last post in a section (i.e., == ... ==).  Values greater than 1/2 indicate a tendency towards last-wordism.  When the value inside the square root is negative this should be understood as 0.  N.B.: since this number is less than 1, taking the square root serves to ''increase'' the penalty.

Additionally, the <math>C_i</math> are constants which must be determined through careful testing.  For now, we assume that C0 = 3, C1 = 1, C2 = 200, C3 = 400, C4 = 50.  Assuming that all talk page posts by all editors have the same number of ideas on average (but not the same length), the liberality index given above has units words/idea, roughly corresponding to the trait of liberal longwindedness (here the constants must be understood with appropriate units).

Additionally, the <math>C_i</math> are constants which must be determined through careful testing.  For now, we assume that C0 = 35, C1 = 1, C2 = 150, C3 = 300, C4 = 500.  Assuming that all talk page posts by all editors have the same number of ideas on average (but not the same length), the liberality index given above has units words/idea, roughly corresponding to the trait of liberal longwindedness (here the constants must be understood with appropriate units).

The quantification of liberal style has an astonishing array of possible applications.  Most directly, it may be applied to the automatic detection of vandals on Conservapedia who attempt to insert liberal bias undetected.  Related indices of liberal bias (not based on a Wiki-style count) could also be used to measure the degree to which various Bible translations have been compromised by liberal bias, and for quality control on books in the [[Conservative Bible Project]].  Indeed, linguistic indicators such as vocabulary use have long been used by scholars to gauge he authenticity of various ancient texts (including the Bible), and applying a similar metric (adapted to other languages) to the original text of the Bible may help discover additional passages which are late additions.  At last, measures of liberal style may be applied to measure the political bias of various news outlets, and of specific anchors at those outlets.

The quantification of liberal style has an astonishing array of possible applications.  Most directly, it may be applied to the automatic detection of vandals on Conservapedia who attempt to insert liberal bias undetected.  Related indices of liberal bias (not based on a Wiki-style count) could also be used to measure the degree to which various Bible translations have been compromised by liberal bias, and for quality control on books in the [[Conservative Bible Project]].  Indeed, linguistic indicators such as vocabulary use have long been used by scholars to gauge he authenticity of various ancient texts (including the Bible), and applying a similar metric (adapted to other languages) to the original text of the Bible may help discover additional passages which are late additions.  At last, measures of liberal style may be applied to measure the political bias of various news outlets, and of specific anchors at those outlets.

While some have questioned the usefulness of quantifying things like open-mindedness and liberal style (see point 30 on [[Liberal style]]), the success of similar metrics for other aspects of language indicates that such calculations are indeed very meaningful.

While some have questioned the usefulness of quantifying things like open-mindedness and liberal style (see point 30 on [[Liberal style]]), the success of similar metrics for other aspects of language indicates that such calculations are indeed very meaningful.