<p>Regarding the "answer ratio" - I think that is partially a function of the nature of statistics and the questions we get. Not so much that statistics is incredibly broad - because the people who answer the questions here have a remarkably broad range of expertise - but some questions either have <em>no</em> answer or are so poorly worded that they <em>cannot</em> be answered (although, if they were better worded, they could be answered). </p>

<p>As for "chat" - well, what is it for? I've been very active here over the past year, but I'm not sure what chat is for, except for the case where a conversation in one of the threads gets a bit astray. </p>
