<p>We have seen some questions where, after an initial struggle, the poser elects to initiate a new thread in the guise of a new question.  For example, from today alone, we have</p>

<p><a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/q/4914/919">Developing a Statistical Test to Ascertain a Better Fit</a> and <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/q/4945/919">“Normalized” standard deviation</a>;</p>

<p><a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/q/4942/919">Threshold for Fisher linear classifier</a> and <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/q/4949/919">Calculating the error of Bayes classifier analytically</a>.</p>

<p>There are pros and cons for this approach.  One argument in favor is that sometimes a large body of eventually irrelevant comments accumulates, so starting off with a clean question might be clearer.  An opposing argument is that this can create a complex trail of closely related or essentially identical questions.  What are best practices in this regard, how are (or should they be) implemented, and by whom?</p>
