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I have been asked on several occasions on whether or not the questions I asked were truly "expert level". How exactly do I determine whether my question is "expert level"?

I ask questions that I don't know the answer to and, since they are above my understanding, I feel that are the closest to an "expert level question". Is this what we mean by an "expert level question"?

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  • $\begingroup$ I think a good start would be to rule out anything that is covered in pregrad economic courses. $\endgroup$
    – han-tyumi
    Nov 27, 2014 at 21:14
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    $\begingroup$ What if the only experience you have is with pre-grad economic courses? Should you be excluded from asking questions? $\endgroup$
    – Mathematician
    Nov 27, 2014 at 22:15
  • $\begingroup$ No, I didn't say that. It's not about your degree; it's about being able to ask a question that isn't covered in any pregrad book or class. $\endgroup$
    – han-tyumi
    Nov 27, 2014 at 23:48
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    $\begingroup$ So being an expert means be acquainted with every textbook? $\endgroup$
    – curiousdannii
    Nov 28, 2014 at 0:07
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    $\begingroup$ @Majoko Unless I know everything in every pregrad book or class, I do not see how I can ask questions that are not covered in those mediums. Can you elaborate more on what you mean? $\endgroup$
    – Mathematician
    Nov 28, 2014 at 1:34
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    $\begingroup$ It really seems like you're trying tu purposefully misinterpret what I'm trying to say. Of course it's impossible to be acquainted with every pregrad subject matter. What I said is just that a good guideline for a question would be that it isn't covered by basic/intermediate texts. If not sure, check beforehand. $\endgroup$
    – han-tyumi
    Nov 28, 2014 at 2:32
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    $\begingroup$ @Majoko I'm trying to understand you, but you aren't making much sense. To be clear, you want to define an "expert-level" question as a question covering material that is not found in any pre-grad courses? If this is what you mean, then how can people who do not know graduate economics ask questions on this site? $\endgroup$
    – Mathematician
    Nov 28, 2014 at 3:10
  • $\begingroup$ For the last time, you can make a question beyond undergrad level even if you don't have a graduate degree. What you know and what you are able to conjecture with this knowledge goes way beyond what your degree dictates. $\endgroup$
    – han-tyumi
    Nov 28, 2014 at 11:07

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The restriction to expert-level questions is specific to the first few days of the site's life, while we're in private beta.

If you don't feel confident that you're asking expert-level questions, simply wait a few days until we're in public beta, and then contribute to the meta discussion about what level of questions we want the site to host.

As Majoko point out, if the answer's in undergraduate textbooks, or on wikipedia, it's probably not expert level. If you can't tell whether it's a question an economics graduate or post-doc might ask, it's probably not expert level.

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