appdb request: "Browse Regressions"

[Jim White]

Dan Kegel wrote:
> On Sun, Mar 16, 2008 at 8:53 AM, Roderick Colenbrander
> <thunderbird2k at gmx.net> wrote:
> 
>> Personally I don't trust appdb regressions much.
> 
> We could work around some of the problems by only listing
> apps where the same reviewer gave it a lower rating in a
> newer version of wine.  That compensates for the lack
> of a uniform rating system somewhat.

Reminds me of a bit I just read on a guy who's doing really well in the 
Netflix competition.  One of the good heuristics he uses is to track the 
levels that a particular person uses to adjust for the "anchoring effect".

http://www.wired.com/techbiz/media/magazine/16-03/mf_netflix?currentPage=all

> One such phenomenon is the anchoring effect, a problem endemic to any
> numerical rating scheme. If a customer watches three movies in a row
> that merit four stars — say, the Star Wars trilogy — and then sees
> one that's a bit better — say, Blade Runner — they'll likely give the
> last movie five stars. But if they started the week with one-star
> stinkers like the Star Wars prequels, Blade Runner might get only a 4
> or even a 3. Anchoring suggests that rating systems need to take
> account of inertia — a user who has recently given a lot of
> above-average ratings is likely to continue to do so. Potter finds
> precisely this phenomenon in the Netflix data; and by being aware of
> it, he's able to account for its biasing effects and thus more
> accurately pin down users' true tastes.

Jim