Wikipedia:No original research/Noticeboard

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This page is for requesting input on possible original research. Ask for advice here regarding material that might be original research or original synthesis. Include links to the relevant article(s). Make an attempt to familiarize yourself with the no original research policy before reporting issues here. You can also post here if you are unsure whether the content is considered original research. Sections older than 28 days archived by MiszaBot II. (For help, see Wikipedia:Purge) If you mention specific editors, please notify them. You may use {{subst:NORN-notice}} to do so.
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Absentee ballot postage and voter suppression

The question is, if a source takes the position that having to pay postage when returning a ballot is a constructive poll tax, is this a sufficient basis for claiming that this is a form of voter suppression?

To be clear, there is no claim that every form of voter suppression is illegal, just that there is no "line to draw" as to what constitutes voter suppression and that anything which has a tendency to discourage voting, by definition, constitutes voter suppression to a greater or lesser degree.

Here's the pertinent part of the original discussion from Talk:Voter suppression in the United States#Reconsidering the gist of this article:

I understand from what you are saying here that you do not believe that it is WP:OR to decide that the meaning of the term "voter suppression" is self-evident and does not require further definition. I do believe that it is WP:OR but of course I could be wrong.

The specific ask is presumably that there must be a source which explicitly states that having to put postage on the return envelope may discourage some people from voting (i.e. that this would in fact constitute voter suppression), while my contention would be that this is implicit, particularly when there is no assertion of any countervailing benefit, e.g. in terms of reducing voter fraud. Fabrickator (talk) 15:42, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

• The term “Original Research”, as used on Wikipedia, refers to statements, arguments or conclusions not directly stated in any external source (but instead originating on Wikipedia). So, the question here is very simple: is the conclusion that postage constitutes voter suppression found in a source? If so, then it is not OR … if not, then it is OR. Blueboar (talk) 18:17, 8 November 2024 (UTC)
• Flat-out OR. EEng 19:00, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

  @Blueboar and EEng: What about a source stating that the postage requirement imposes a "burden on the right to vote"? Does that also fail to support the claim of "voter suppression"? Fabrickator (talk) 20:44, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

  To be clear, I think ballot envelopes should be postage-prepaid, because who the hell has stamps around the house anymore? But it's not for us to make the jump from "burden" to "suppression". I think you'll find the examples at WP:SYNTH on point. EEng 21:16, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

  If the source says “burden” we should say “burden”.

  Indeed, I would say that “burden” is actually a stronger word, since rain on Election Day can “suppress” the vote. Blueboar (talk) 13:16, 9 November 2024 (UTC)

Oil paint - most prestigious form of painting?

Oil paint contained an assertion that "For several centuries the oil painting has been perhaps the most prestigious form in Western art[...]". To better comply with WP:NPOV, I changed it to "For several centuries, the oil painting was considered the most prestigious form in Western art[...]"; however, I could not find a source for a claim like this anywhere in the article and I am unsure if there are sources to back up the idea that this was the consensus in the past. Any help sorting out this dilemma would be appreciated. Thanks, Tarhalindur (talk) 22:57, 10 November 2024 (UTC)

I can't see how your edit brought any improvement, especially removing the "perhaps". I don't think either statement has NPOV issues - market prices alone would bear this out. Johnbod (talk) 04:12, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

Do WP:RS say, when going through the history of art, that oil painting was the most prestigious, etc.? Maybe. But that doesn't seem like a very interesting thing to say so I wonder if art historians actually bothered saying that. They might have been more inclined to observe that oil was the preferred medium for many renowned artists throughout history or that many iconic works in the western tradition were done in oil. For example this long history of oil doesn't mention the prestigiousness of oil but mentions what are to me more interesting summaries of why it mattered. Novellasyes (talk) 14:57, 11 November 2024 (UTC)

I've gone ahead and removed that pretty egregious OR; I've also gone through and removed a handful of other OR or peacocky terms in the article. It'll still need a bit of improvement but it's (in my eyes) a bit better for now. CoconutOctopus talk 11:11, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

Centre-right politics

An editor continues removing content from the lead at Centre-right politics because they believe that the sources are fake and written by leftwingers. Can we get some more input here? Talk:Centre-right politics#Wording of the lead Thebiguglyalien (talk) 02:31, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

Note that if the Sfn sources don't match anything in the references list, it's because the editor is deleting those too. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 03:01, 16 November 2024 (UTC)

Original research for claim regarding polling for Donald Trump's legal cases on the 2024 United States election page

The following sentence in dispute contains original research not supported by the sources at hand:

Polling throughout the election cycle showed that after his indictments began Trumps poll numbers saw an immediate rise which would remain throughout the rest of the election cycle, and after his conviction in New York, polling among republicans showed that the conviction made 34% of them "more likely" to vote for Trump.

The first half of the sentence was reverted by myself, as the two sources for the claim did not state that "Polling throughout the election cycle" showed that after his indictments "Trumps poll numbers saw an immediate rise which would remain throughout the rest of the election cycle". The sources cannot make this claim, as they were both published in 2023, over 1 year before the end of the election cycle in 2024. My removal of this was reverted by TheRazgriz, who claimed there was no original research. BootsED (talk) 01:46, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

Being tactful in my reply here to add the following:

In the referenced text, there are three references, two contemporary citations to the polling "bump" post-indictment in Nov 2023, and one which notes polling post-conviction in June 2024, more than half a year later, and elsewhere in the page is already reference to exit polling support almost a full year from initial reference (in addition to the obligatory links to the main 24 POTUS election page with more focused data/info).

My rebuttal is that it is OR to make authoritative statements with no RS to validate the substance or merit of the statement, but it is not OR to cite RS sources containing and explaining datasets and make a statement of fact based on the data cited. If needed, further citations can easily be found to continue to validate the claim, for example HERE which show any variation from Nov 23-Jun 24 as within margin of error, but my approach on WP is that there is very rarely a valid reason to cite more than 1 or 2 sources to validate a claim that is not a serious point of contention. That is my $0.02(USD). More than happy to participate more if needed or requested. Thank you. TheRazgriz (talk) 02:41, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

First, the third source does not make the claim that because of Trump’s indictments, his polling numbers remained up throughout the election cycle because of the indictments. It is also published in June of 2024, still before the end of the election cycle.

The new source you provided in your comment above was not in the sentence at hand, and does not even say that Trump's indictments resulted in a polling bump. It instead reports on people's opinions on the indictments, not on Trump’s overall poll numbers. The poll is based on the question, not his overall polling numbers. It is also a primary source rather than a secondary source, so using that source to make broader claims is synthesis. It is also published in June, so it still wouldn't satisfy your claim that his poll numbers went up throughout the election cycle because of his indictments. BootsED (talk) 15:10, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

I agree with BootED that some OR is involved in the sentence, "Polling throughout the election cycle showed that after his indictments began Trumps poll numbers saw an immediate rise which would remain throughout the rest of the election cycle." A couple of factors to notice: (1) the indictments didn't all happen at once; if it is really true that his poll number experienced an increase after "his indictments began" you'd have to go back and pick up the first indictment and see what happened to his poll numbers starting then; this, however, would then make a complicated claim to draw all the way through to November 2024 since at that time he was still seeking the Republican nomination and polls were about his standing versus other Republicans; (2) his polling numbers vacillated during the general election season and experienced a dip after the Harris nomination; (3) to the extent that some Republicans looked on him more favorably because of the indictments (this is born out in some polls), I don't see an RS that supports that idea that his relatively robust poll numbers which Harris was only briefly able to interrupt was because of the indictments. It would be good to not confuse correlation with causation and not to imply it unless RSes do; but even the correlation seems like OR. There probably are some valuable or interesting sentences that COULD be included about the impact of his indictments but the way it is said now rolls way too much up into one OR overarching claim. Novellasyes (talk) 15:48, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

I feel it is important to not misconstrue what the article as written actually says. The wording is:

"Polling throughout the election cycle showed that after his indictments began Trumps poll numbers saw an immediate rise which would remain throughout the rest of the election cycle."

What is being communicated to the reader? Trump had X% polling before his first indictment, just after the first indictment those numbers saw an immediate Y% increase to Z%, and that Y% gain remained for the rest of the cycle. It is not asserting that his numbers remained at Z% for the rest of the cycle, just that the Y% increase remained, i.e. he never saw X% after that point.

Here is an equal but opposite question: Did Trumps polling in the 2024 election cycle post-indictment 1 ever get at/near/below his polling pre-indictment 1? The answer is plainly no, based on all available data, at every stage of the election.

But to the point of OR, this really feels like a mistake seen time and again, summed up as "If a RS can not be quoted as saying a specific thing, then it is OR to say that thing at all in WikiVoice." WV is not a quotation method, it is used to give a summary based on RS. It is not OR to summarize the data and RS. RS verify the assertion (again, the Y%, not the Z%), and further RS citations can and are easily obtained which reinforce this. If the issue is "Needs more/better citations", that is achieved within a half hour, but we must keep in mind WP:OVERKILL and be reasonable about it. How many RS are needed to reasonably validate the claim? Do we need a poll from each month of the entire cycle? Every quarter? TheRazgriz (talk) 16:52, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

You don't need a poll from every month, you need one reliable secondary source published after the election that directly makes the claims you admit you made based on your own interpretation of data. BootsED (talk) 03:07, 4 December 2024 (UTC)

Also, it is bluntly false to claim SYNTH to the other citation. That was such a wild assertion to make. Its an Emerson College poll. What in the world is primary about this? Explain the leap to asserting it is SYNTH here. TheRazgriz (talk) 16:59, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

The polling data universally verifies this summary. It shows Trump at X% pre-Indictment 1, it shows a significant Y% increase post-indictment 1 to Z% ratings, and confirms that at no point did the Y% "go away" over time, instead remaining for the rest of the cycle, proven by the fact that he never returned to X% levels afterward. If the summary/assertion had no data to confirm, and was simply ripping bits and pieces of RS to cobble together the assertion with no actual underlying foundation of RS/proof for the assertion itself, that would be SYNTH. That is not the case here. The case here is that RS data verifies the assertion, Trump never saw his numbers go back down to where they had previously been. That is a fact, clearly apparent by the data itself. It is not OR to state numbers went up and cite the data, it is also not OR to state they did not return to previous levels and cite the data.

What concerns me more is the combined assertion you've made that using Emerson College polls as a citation is somehow "primary source" to this. How? I sincerely am curious how you arrive at that conclusion. Everything is primary to something, but how this poll is primary to this discussion is inconceivable to me. TheRazgriz (talk) 19:26, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

The issue is not with the pollster. Primary versus secondary sources is best described by WP:SECONDARY. The primary source you pointed to does not make the claim you say it does. BootsED (talk) 03:11, 4 December 2024 (UTC)

The claim is one of data. "Data shows X". Every source I have provided is in support of that claim, and does indeed strengthen that claim.

SYNTH would be:

Source 1- "Immigrants are pouring across Southern border in record numbers."

Source 2- "Record numbers of illegal drugs flowing across Southern border."

WIkiVoice summary- "Immigrants are bringing record numbers of illegal drugs across the Southern border."

That is SYNTH.

Again, the WV assertion here is not that. It is "X% increased by Y% to Z%, and the Y% remained". Every source cited strengthens that claim. You have yet to provide RS that disputes that claim. I can continue providing RS to strengthen my claim, as every poll after that point never showed Trump return to levels at/near/below his pre-indictment level, and showed most fluctuation up or down within margin of error. Exit polling also showed he won the PV, still maintaining his increased %, and these polls are already citied elsewhere on the "main" page so I know you aren't pretending those aren't also there. As a bonus, HERE, yet another collection of polling data, this time during Trump v Harris timeline, still showing his polling numbers at approx the same as they were from every other poll post-indictment. But I am sure you will once again have some sort of issue with this, and once again your issue will be to insist it is all OR, and again you will provide not a hint of a RS to disprove the assertion.

So here is my final answer: This is about as basic as it gets, telling the reader a factual summary of what can be verified from multiple RS, specifically within the context of the section within the article page it is being stated in. The assertion is a fact, it is verified by multiple RS confirming the same data result to be true, it is presented within the context of the section topic, and you have provided no substantive counterargument to actually address any of this and instead choose to argue past the point. That is your decision and right to do so. Mine is to choose to stop engaging past the slightest hope of productive, constructive conversation. I leave the rest to the gods of chaos, i.e. other Wiki users. Thank you. Razgriz, the Red Wizard (talk) 04:36, 4 December 2024 (UTC)

Bluntly, in order to verify that requires an education level that rises above our Original Research threshold for sky-is-blue. Which is deliberately set low to cater for, well, less-well educated English speakers from countries with substandard education systems. It may be entirely correct, but unless there is a source that explicitly states that, you cant state it as fact. Only in death does duty end (talk) 11:05, 4 December 2024 (UTC)

And there's another reason the OR rule is what it is. If Assertion X hasn't been stated by reliable secondary sources, then -- whether it's true or not -- it's questionable that it's something worth telling our readers. EEng 18:56, 4 December 2024 (UTC)

Sources

Potential SYNTH violation on "video games considered the best" list article

The article on List of video games considered the best is set up to determine "games considered the best" by "The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists from different publications (inclusive of all time periods, platforms, and genres)". After a lengthy discussion on the talk page, I'm still convinced it fails WP:SYNTH, specifically "Do not combine material from multiple sources to state or imply a conclusion not explicitly stated by any of the sources" and WP:LISTCRITERIA (""Avoid original or arbitrary criteria that would synthesize a list that is not plainly verifiable in reliable sources.") While I think an article on acclaimed media to be interesting and valid, I feel that the approach taken applies arbitrary criteria ("had to appear on six lists") that is not widespread among any video game academia, criticism, or even fans to make to capture the subject on hand. Thoughts? Andrzejbanas (talk) 00:16, 9 December 2024 (UTC)

There's certainly an argument that it's combining different claims in a way that's WP:SYNTH to create a "definitive" list. There's also an argument that all of those sources support "greatest" as required by WP:V and we're just requiring it to be heavily supported and represent the consensus among sources as required by WP:NPOV. Either way, this has repeatedly been brought up and settled. This isn't the answer you want to hear, but at a certain point we have to accept that most of the community feels the latter argument is stronger. If you're looking to fight OR, there are plenty of easier targets to sink your teeth into. Thebiguglyalien (talk) 00:58, 9 December 2024 (UTC)

I have no argument that this is a way to get some information to define "greatness". The issue is only applying a self-imposed rule that states "The games listed here are included on at least six separate "best/greatest of all time" lists" which does not seem congruent with WP:LISTCRITERIA's "Avoid original or arbitrary criteria that would synthesize a list that is not plainly verifiable in reliable sources.". The bigger issue is I do not understand how including only six items is acceptable with the "avoid original or arbitrary criteria". So I appreciate you chiming in @Thebiguglyalien:, but your response does not address the problem I'm trying to bring up. Andrzejbanas (talk) 20:05, 9 December 2024 (UTC)

Are you interpreting the phrase "a list that is not plainly verifiable in reliable sources" to mean "reliable sources have to have described/written about standards for evaluating whether something belongs on a particular list". If so, in this case, that would require RSes to have written about why, how, or that people use being on six separate "all time best" lists to determine whether a video game is considered to belong on a "considered [to be] the best" list. I'm spelling this out because I'm not 100% sure myself how to interpret what "plainly verifiable in reliable sources" means as applied to this situation -- or what you think it means or how you are interpreting it.Novellasyes (talk) 03:08, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

I'm totally aware I may be misinterpreting it. The content in the sources is definitely the items listed. But, there is no standard in any source to apply that we be a numeric ranking and I'm not sure that applying a rule that only selects a small amount of items is not applying "arbitrary criteria" as it makes us pick and choose what from the sources is valid and what is not. I apologize if any of this comes off as antagonistic, but I'm trying to clarify this @Novellasyes:. If I'm misinterpreting, I think I might understand by an example of how this does not apply. Andrzejbanas (talk) 06:29, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

I don't fully understand exactly what the phrase "a list that is not plainly verifiable in reliable sources" means and that's why I asked, and tried to express one possible interpretation of it. I wasn't trying to suggest that you don't understand it. Novellasyes (talk) 13:17, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

Fair. Sorry misunderstood. Hopefully some others can chime in. Andrzejbanas (talk) 13:53, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

Southern Operations Room

The Southern Operations Room uses as a flag the logo of a game cancelled 11 years ago Command & Conquer Generals 2 There are sources that depict the logo of this game although the only WP:RS is Electronic Arts (the game' editor) Youtube page as they've shutdown eveyrthing else related to the cancelled game from their official website long ago. However because there is no reliable source that has stated the logo origin - there is not many people remembering about this 11 years old cancelled game - i obviously got a WP:NOR as this is an unpublished fact. Any way to still get this bit of trivia to the page? I doubt SOR founders would be open for an online interview or a newspaper to write an article on it Irianelle (talk) 10:01, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

(moved from talk) '''[[User:CanonNi]]''' (talk • contribs) 11:06, 10 December 2024 (UTC)

Hello, I looked at the YouTube video you originally posted, and I agree that the logos are extremely similar, and that your interpretation might be correct. However, as you have pointed out, it is going to be difficult to find at least one reliable source to verify it. Inclusion of trivia is not always discouraged in articles, but in general it needs to be highly relevant to the subject. In this case, without a secondary (or even primary) source, we are not yet at a point where we can discuss inclusion. Hope that helps! Choucas Bleu^talk_contribs 15:05, 10 December 2024 (UTC)