Strange last Chapter statistics

[SimonDoom]

Absolutely those are all logical and "could be". I accept your guesses as a logical working theory. That said, there is no way to verify that any or all are the reason for the anomaly of the views, so I guess the answer will stay in the mist, hidden and a subject of all our WAG's.

Comshaw

True, as so much else about this Site. We're trying to figure out truths based on incomplete information. But that's true of many theories, like the theory of evolution. The incompleteness of the information doesn't necessarily invalidate the theory if the other theories don't make as much sense. The starting point is you have to be careful with the assumption that the views are an "anomaly." They're just data, waiting to be explained.

 

[Comshaw]

True, as so much else about this Site. We're trying to figure out truths based on incomplete information. But that's true of many theories, like the theory of evolution. The incompleteness of the information doesn't necessarily invalidate the theory if the other theories don't make as much sense. The starting point is you have to be careful with the assumption that the views are an "anomaly." They're just data, waiting to be explained.

Nor does a tiny bit of data verify the theory. A theory is a working hypothesis, an educated guess based on incomplete (in some cases severely incomplete) data. It's not a proof, only a direction to point an investigation to find the proof.

As far as being, "...careful with the assumption that the views are an "anomaly."

From dictonary.com
Anomaly
1) something different, abnormal, peculiar, or not easily classified : something anomalous
2) deviation from the common rule : irregularity

A logical assumption would be that each chapter either gained more reads then the last or lost them. The last chapter having more reads than the next to last one is an anomaly in so far as it is abnormal. I would say the instance under discussion fits both descriptions above, wouldn't you? If it fits, it is.

Comshaw

 

[SimonDoom]

Nor does a tiny bit of data verify the theory. A theory is a working hypothesis, an educated guess based on incomplete (in some cases severely incomplete) data. It's not a proof, only a direction to point an investigation to find the proof.

As far as being, "...careful with the assumption that the views are an "anomaly."

From dictonary.com
Anomaly
1) something different, abnormal, peculiar, or not easily classified : something anomalous
2) deviation from the common rule : irregularity

A logical assumption would be that each chapter either gained more reads then the last or lost them. The last chapter having more reads than the next to last one is an anomaly in so far as it is abnormal. I would say the instance under discussion fits both descriptions above, wouldn't you? If it fits, it is.

Comshaw

I understand what you're saying, but what I'm saying is that it only makes sense to talk of an "anomaly" if we start with a baseline of what seems normal and regular.

The story/chapter pattern you've described is not an anomaly. It's common and normal. I have two series, one 3 chapters and one 8 chapters. In both, the final chapter has more views than the penultimate chapter. Why? I don't know for sure. An interesting thing I've noticed is that the pattern holds up over time. Both of these story series are about 5 years old. In both cases the final chapter had more views than the penultimate one, but not more views than the first one.

 

[Comshaw]

I understand what you're saying, but what I'm saying is that it only makes sense to talk of an "anomaly" if we start with a baseline of what seems normal and regular.

The story/chapter pattern you've described is not an anomaly. It's common and normal. I have two series, one 3 chapters and one 8 chapters. In both, the final chapter has more views than the penultimate chapter. Why? I don't know for sure. An interesting thing I've noticed is that the pattern holds up over time. Both of these story series are about 5 years old. In both cases the final chapter had more views than the penultimate one, but not more views than the first one.

It's common and normal? So you've checked more than yours and the few mentioned here to see that the majority meet that criteria? I accept your theory of how the voting could be that way, it very well could be true. However, I can not accept your assertion that it is "common and normal" without proof. I've gotten myself into trouble, eaten crow more than once by declaring an absolute on such minute evidence. Anecdotal evidence such as your story votes being that way, is suspect for no other reason than it is of such limited quantity compared to how many multi-part stories there are on this site.

Comshaw

 

[SimonDoom]

It's common and normal? So you've checked more than yours and the few mentioned here to see that the majority meet that criteria? I accept your theory of how the voting could be that way, it very well could be true. However, I can not accept your assertion that it is "common and normal" without proof. I've gotten myself into trouble, eaten crow more than once by declaring an absolute on such minute evidence. Anecdotal evidence such as your story votes being that way, is suspect for no other reason than it is of such limited quantity compared to how many multi-part stories there are on this site.

Comshaw

OK, that's perfectly fair. My statement is not based on anything that one might call legitimate statistical analysis. But I also don't think that's the standard that's necessary for casual talk in a social media forum like this one. I'll amend "common and normal" to say this: your experience is consistent with mine, and in that respect is not unusual.