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Question: How can we prevent misunderstandings when answering a history question!?
Recently, Lomax, a Top Answerer in History, made a very valid point!. It seems we ALL forget the fact that Y!A is an international forum!.
How can we avoid confusion when answering questions!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
It would help if the asker specified which country's history they were asking about!. This is particularly important when you get into questions about the civil war!. WE assume they mean the American Civil War, but there have been a few questions about the British Civil War!.

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The civil war question comes up at least once a day!. I used to simply ask "Which Civil War"!. Now I just ignore it - although I gave Lomax a thumbs up!.

The question of it being an international forum only really applies to Americans; the British, Indians, Australians, Kiwis, Canadians, South Africans and other English speakers do tend to qualify their questions - i!.e!. Why did the king lose the civil war!?!.

I think the answerers should, even if they are American, point out to the questioner that there have been many civil wars, and then answer the question as best they can!.

As there are so many people on here asking questions, it would be impossible - and a little rude and churlish to refuse to answer!.

And - perhaps being a little more understanding of the thumbs down to what you consider a perfectly good answer - but to non-Americans is another example of the UScentric nature of YA!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The issue is at least equally with those putting forward the questions, who often fails to specifically idenfy the information that the individual is seeking!. The misunderstanding of answers gernerally seems to stem from this, as the answers assume that the questioner is after information concerning a totally different set of events!.

This is not say that some answers are not "have a go" merchants who get involved when they ought not to!.!.!.!.

When posing a question certain reqirements ought to be adhered to:

- If two common terms of reference are used (say, American War of Independance vs!. Revolutionary War), give both!.
- Give dates/a specified period where possible
- Beware that numerous events may be refered to by a single term!. "The Civil War" does ot necessarily mean the American Civil War)
- Ditto people!.
- Flush out what it is you actually want to know, explain this in reasonable depth
- Don't ask questions of too wide a scope!. We're not full-time, free consultant!. Asking "Please tell me about the Roman Empire" or similar is simply not a suitable way to use this facilty!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

Well, when dealing with history, I believe you really must be specific!. Dates, times, context should probably be in the additional details section!. The beauty of this forum is thast you can get a collective consensus from a variety of opinions!. This leads to an unbiased, socratic answer!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

It may be international but is still predominately American, when someone asks about "the Civil War" most people here will think of the U!.S!. Civil War since most here are Americans!. When someone asks "who was the first president" most of us think Washington because most of us are Americans!. If this assumption offends askers from other countries they should simply be more specific when asking questions!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

G Think globally!.Www@QuestionHome@Com