MCA,

If I understand the interpretation of the formula, you do not get 4.99 votes. Implicitly this might be correct but not directly. Directly you only get one vote with a weight of 4.99. The statistical database for the ratings could store sufficient information for estimating a host of different variables including the number of votes. The key question is what is stored & retained. Are the calculations using the current rankings of members or just the rankings at the time of voting? The best results would be obtained using current rankings but this would imply a recursive estimation formula not the simple one given. Also, are rankings derived from a large current database of rankings or are just the numerator, denominator & number of votes retained & then as each new vote is added the three values are updated? This is the easiest methodology to program but it is less accurate.

Surprisingly, a simple idea like this can be very difficult to implement correctly.

[ 08 June 2002, 19:13: Message edited by: JackLothian ]
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Jack