Some discussion was here (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=53459) on the map size.

Tiny (5-8 cities)
Small (7-10 cities)
Medium (9-12 cities)
Large (11-14 cities)
Huge (13-16 cities)

Remember, fewer cities mean more provinces, but more cities mean fewer provinces. Traditionally, our provinces have been Medium-sized. Should we go small? Or supersize that order?

And would you like fries with that?

I say we go for tint provinces. Its much more fun and it will be more more "agile" when placing new provinces.

one question about the interpretation:
lets say the votes go:
T:6
S:5
M:2
L:7
H:1
...
would we say L won? or would we say S won?

(L is the highest ranked option, whereas S+smaller have 11 against M+larger have 10 votes only)

dis

While I understand the logic and need for cumulative type polls, I do not think that system should apply here.

Cumulative polls are tricky in that without clearly defined interpretations from the outset, they require assumption on the part of the analysts with respect to the intentions of each vote. In other words, if I voted for Small (7-10 cities), there are at least three potential interpretations of my vote: 1) I believe we should only have provinces with between 7 and 10 cities, 2) I believe we should have provinces with no more than 10 cities in them, or 3) I believe we should have provinces with at least 7 cities in them.

Unless the poll clearly states that the results will be considered cumulative in nature, I do not think we should interpret them that way. Doing so would subject the poll to too much room for error and the possibility of having some votes count in ways that they were not originally intended.

Besides, if the options had been divided into two subparts (Tiny and Small vs Med, Lg & Huge) as illustrated in your example, then shouldn't Tiny end up being the overall winner? After all, it received more votes than small.

The other alternative would be to mandate a majority result for the winner. If no option receives a majority, there would be a runoff poll that would include all options receiving more than 25% of the vote (minimum of top 2) and so on until a majority is decided.

Either way, these polling variances should be clearly identified at the outset of the poll.

@forty: no, tine not because 5+2+7+1=15 against 6 votes go to have bigger provinces than tiny ones :-)
anyways, i just wanted to point out that the poll setup is not good.
if i vote HUGE, i will propably also be satisfied with Large... but not with tiny. more extreme, a 7,0,0,6,6 poll outcome shows what could happen: 7 people vote for tiny, and 12 for larger than tiny... so as tiny would win it would imho be extremely unfair and not representative.


maybe a multiple choice poll would have been better here... though i dont like them

Just simply vote. And the choise with the most voters would win...

Usually if there is no clear winner in the first round of polling, we take another stab at it with more narrowly or carefully defined choices. It seems a bit early to go into a panic over the possibility of inconclusive results:)

dis
I must say that I think I understand what you're proposing now. Essentially, you're suggesting we choose the median of the votes, and not the mean. If you had just said that in the first place, I'd have agreed. ;)

But, for the record, I still think that any non-standard (ie. most votes wins) type polls, should be clearly defined as such in the first post of the thread.

Why do we need a poll about this anyway? Why should all provinces be the same size? Is there nothing more important for demogame citizens to vote on?!?

@Dis & FortyJ
Well if you'd been reading my submissions to the polling standards commission you would know exactly how to read such a poll. This is indeed a gradated poll where the option that gets the most votes does not nessisarialy win. (although if any option gets a 51% majority of all non-abstain votes, then it wins regardless)

In the case of these polls it is easiest to start at one extreme and think logically.

First: Do more people want 'Tiny' or 'bigger than Tiny' (includes small, medium, large & huge).

More want Bigger than Tiny, so we move up a step.

Second: Do more people want 'Small or smaller' (includes Small and Tiny) or 'bigger than Small' (includes Medium, Large and Huge)

In this case, more want 'Small or smaller' than want 'bigger than small'. So therefore the option 'Small' wins. (note, the idea 'Small or smaller' does not win as it represents a group of votes, not a possible outcome)

If, for instance, more people wated 'bigger than Small' than wanted 'Small or smaller' than we could move up another step and so forth.

Originally posted by donsig
Why do we need a poll about this anyway? Why should all provinces be the same size? Is there nothing more important for demogame citizens to vote on?!?

donsig,

This poll will aid the Domestic Department in planning provincial borders, so that we don't waste time submitting plans that are too large or too small. For instance, Chieftess has already drawn up some border proposals only to find out that they may not be what the people want. We should determine a range now so that she, and those that follow in her position, don't put out the extra effort for nothing.

This poll is citizens' time well spent. ;)

:) I'd say let's make them tiny so we can have as many Governors as possible. This is a small world. We live on a small continent. Our nieghbors are very close. We only need 5 - 8 cities per Province.

I've always thought that the inner provinces should be slightly smaller than the outer provinces. Since the inner provinces are less corrupt, there is more work and more attention required in managing these provinces. Conversely, the outer provinces need little maintenance as the corruption slows down their productivity considerably.

I voted for small, as I believe it makes the most sense.

At the current results of the poll it seems as we should put up a new poll. The options in that poll should be tiny and small...

Small is the clear leader with 20 people voting so far. 70% of voters want small or less. 75% want small or more. An astonishing 45% want small straight out.

Personally, I want medium. ;)

@CT - You should advertise this poll in the Poll Registry.

In graduated polls such as these, it certainly makes sense to use medians. Simply put, we're looking for the middle vote (where there are an equal number of votes above and below).

Currently, with 21 votes submitted (including 1 abstention) and distribution as follows (T5, S10, M2, L2, H1), the median falls smack in the middle of the Small group. Furthermore, for the results to shift from Small to Medium at this point, there would need to be 11 more votes cast for either Medium, Large or Huge (with no more for Tiny, Small or Abstain).

Looks like Small is going to win this one hands down no matter which method we use.