Shopping question vs Resource request

Question

Some questions, like this one get closed as Shopping Questions. But the OP, here, was asking how to get something done, not for a list of things. So, my view is that isn't really a shopping question at all.

However, we don't have (as some others do) a tag for resource-request, which might form a different category of acceptable question.

But one difficulty, if providing this category is considered valuable, is to make it known or to somehow "map" close requests into resource requests.

What do folks think about such questions that are "not quite" shopping but ask for ways to do things? I would, personally, like to find a way to allow them for the benefit of the OP but in a way that avoids "listy" answers.

Here is another "Listy" question that doesn't seem to be attracting "shopping" close votes. But it certainly has no "best" answer. Would a new tag "resource-request" be appropriate for such things?

Yet another question. This one is being flagged for closure, but it is about devices for doing academic work. Certainly "listy" and certainly about buying things. But not about academic programs and their comparisons.

Answer 1

I would suggest that programming answers in StackOverflow provide a good guideline here.

If the question can be well-formed as "How do I do X?", then while there may be many ways to do X, there will generally only be a small number of really good ways to do it, which fits the SE format nicely. In this case, the question may still fail due to being overly specific or too shopping-oriented.

Take the first example from above, which I will paraphrase:

"How do I find the names of all Asian institutions that offer post graduate programs in computational linguistics? By the way, I already know the standard answers to this question, but they aren't good enough for my purposes."

I don't think this fails as a shopping question, since it's asking for a resource. However, I believe that it does fail the "individual factors" criteria because it's asking for a resource that is too specific and unlikely to exist.

If the question really needs a list, however, then it's just a bad fit for the SE format. Taking the second example from above, which I will paraphrase:

What academic researchers published very few scientific articles (say, less than twenty) but exerted large influences on their fields of study? Also, I already know that Gauss is one of them.

If this was "Are there any...?" or "Is there a list of...?" then it would be a good fit, because a single good answer is possible. As it is, however, it is a bad fit because there is an open-ended set of possible answers with no particular way to tell which are better than one another. I wouldn't call it a "shopping question" (since there's no choice involved), but would probable use either "needs clarity" or a custom reason.

Answer 2

I flagged to close the 3rd question regarding electronic devices (What is the best e-Ink device for academic paper reading and hand annotation?) as a shopping question. Your question regarding it seems reasonable to me, but I still feel fairly confident about calling it a shopping question. Whether we should necessarily add a specific item to the rule enumeration to cover the eventuality, I'm more ambivalent on. More detailed reasoning below.

In the first instance, it's fair to say that our enumerated shopping question examples (Why was my question put on hold for shopping?) don't clearly include "physical goods or products". I think those should also be prohibited within the spirit of the rule. There are, to my view, better places on the internet to debate or discuss the merit of specific product purchases.

I think the specific example we're discussing typifies an intrinsic issue: "shopping question" and "opinion-based" have quite a lot of overlap. So there's often a question of which reason to go with. My understanding is that "shopping question" as a reason renders no implicit verdict on whether one can obtain an objective answer to the question. As such, it is often my default reason over "opinion-based" where it applies. In this particular case, my lack of familiarity with the products in the question pushed me away from "opinion based".

As another example, consider this hypothetical question that I think largely mirrors the example we're discussing but even more clearly fits within Academia.SE's wheelhouse:

I've done extensive research on chalk. Which is the higher quality chalk: Hagoromo or Crayola?

It seems to me reasonable people may legitimately disagree about whether this question can be answered in an objective fashion, i.e. there may be quibbling over whether it should be put on hold for being "opinion based". But I think calling it a shopping question would prove uncontroversial.

Our prohibition on shopping questions has always struck me as philosophical. I support it, but think it's somewhat in opposition to a collegiate/academic paradigm of "open discussion". It's not that shopping questions are unreasonable, not answerable, or answers not potentially useful. It's that we've collectively decided that their cost outweighs their benefit in this format.

Answer 3

But the OP, here, was asking how to get something done, not for a list of things.

That is not true. It says:

How do I find the names of all...

This is clearly a request for a list, which is not permitted (I do not make the rules.) Asking for a method of getting a particular list is the same as asking for the list.