<p>I think the answers here already are spot on, but just want to add a few thoughts.</p>
<p>I've been using the site for a little while now, but it still fills me with wonder and gratitude that people have actually taken the time to read through and answer my questions. What's more, I have often got a response from people with so much statistical knowledge and experience. It's really quite amazing that people are so generous with their knowledge. I try to join in to repay some of that, but can only contribute at a basic level myself.</p>
<p>Looking back at my own questions, I think I could definitely have formulated some of them better, but I don't always find it easy to ask a question elegantly without a full understanding of the topic I was asking about! I've benefitted from comments and answers pointing me to look at areas that I previously hadn't properly understood, been aware of, or understood how they'd linked to my problem. The people answering guessed at where the gap in my knowledge was and pointed me in the right direction. I learned much more than I would have done from a narrow response to the question I thought I'd posed.</p>
<p>It's hard work putting together a question and disappointing if you don't get an answer. But it still doesn't mean that you are owed an answer, because that requires someone else to give up their time for free to get one! Actually my personal experience of Cross Validated as a community is that people <em>have</em> tried to answer my questions and I haven't felt like I'm speaking into a void. True, sometimes an answerer hasn't really responded to what I was asking and hasn't added to my understanding, or a comment pointing me in a helpful direction has felt a little sharp! But that person has still taken the time to respond to me and try to help, for free. I think that is still amazing and deserves to be responded to with courtesy.</p>
<p>Moderators regularly give up their time for free to try to improve and maintain the quality of the content of the site, and to guide users in the right direction. I think that is an extremely generous act, and I'm very appreciative of what they do. I don't think they are making minimal effort in giving up their time for free to try to help other people.</p>
<p>The moderators are people who know a lot about their subject, so if your question was unclear to them, on balance it suggests that it's likely to be unclear to many of the people on the site. Given that, I think it's best to work with the process wherever possible. If you disagree with the moderation decision and feel that your question was asking a new, different question, the best thing to do is to try to edit or reformulate your question to make it clearer what you are asking (and maybe explain what you think differentiates it from the marked duplicate).</p>
<p>Finally, if you have been able to resolve your own question, great! If you are able to edit your question to make it clear that it is new and not a duplicate, and then post an answer to your own question with how you resolved it, that would be a valuable contribution to the site.</p>
