I am sure someone here just had to do the math. *chuckle* On average, what is the average of a challenge result? (ie what mark would put someone in the middle of the pack)
I'm not exactly sure what you're looking for, but perhaps if a challenge had 150 entries, you'd look at #75 and #76, add their scores together and divide by 2? That would be a quick and dirty solution. There are lots folks with statistics expertise on this site, so maybe you'll get a more thorough (or more complicated) answer. Hope this helps.
Or if you look at the winning shots they are usually in the low to mid 7 range, (from what I recall) and the lowest shots somewhere around 2+ making the average average 4.5?? I think
I was wonder about what mark would put you 75th out of 150 :-)
And does that stay consistant between the challenges in general or is there large variation?
I was wonder about what mark would put you 75th out of 150 :-)
And does that stay consistant between the challenges in general or is there large variation?
It really depends on the challenge. The range of votes differs on each. For a good idea of what I mean, look at the challenge archives. Check the high score, low score and how many photos were entered. On the "Tools" challenge, high score was 6.815, low score was 3.757 with 59 entries. On "Inside Looking Out" high score was 7.698, low score was 3.709 and there were 85 entries. No telling how a challenge will end up 'til it's over.
I feel ok about anything over 5.0
Wonder what I could have done differently for anything 4.9 and lower
Am pretty happy with anything over 5.5
Am ecstatic with anything over 6.0
As my photography skills change this might change as well.
I took 30 recent challenges, got the high score, the low score, and the "median" score (I think that's the right term, I never took statistics - I took the score of the middle finisher; for example if there were 100 entries, it was the score of the 50th place photo), and plugged them in a spreadsheet. Here's the breakdown:
The reason I also checked high and low scores was that I started noticing a difference between members challenges and open challenges. Here's the breakdowns for those:
So.... what? On average, a 5.3 gets you at the middle of the pack. But, in an open challenge, the middle of the pack is, on average, more than .3 points lower than in a members challenge. And the high score is generally higher in a members challenge, and the low score is way higher in a members challenge. Do the voters in the open challenges vote lower than the members? Or are the quality of the entries just that much better in the members challenges?
Not that any of this proves anything meaningful or significant. It was just an interesting exercise, since the question was asked...
snip...So.... what? On average, a 5.3 gets you at the middle of the pack. But, in an open challenge, the middle of the pack is, on average, more than .3 points lower than in a members challenge. And the high score is generally higher in a members challenge, and the low score is way higher in a members challenge. Do the voters in the open challenges vote lower than the members? Or are the quality of the entries just that much better in the members challenges?...
Since members enter the open challenges, I don't think the variation in scores, especially on the high end is due to the challenge being open. I do believe the variance between members' challenges and open challenges is the $25 bucks the voter pays before being eligible to vote on the members' entries. Doesn't cost anything to be a "registered user" and I'm sure that price attracts more trolls.
That's kind of where I was leaning (and why I started wondering about high and low averages as well).... but I wanted someone else to say it! ;-)
No problem, anytime you need a goat, I'm your gal! 8-) I've been pondering this for weeks and even looked at my scores, open vs member challenge. I somehow think the member challenges are a little more honest as far as the voting goes, even if they get a little AR sometimes like spiders not being insects! 8-) hahahahah
There might also be the possibility that members, on average (pun intended) might be more dedicated and better photographers. Their 25 dollars relfects their sincerity - so, fewer trolls and better pictures.
However, I'm a member, and my scores are way, way down.
