Data Collected

Indicates…

Best Answer

…whether the person who posted the question(s) on Yahoo Answers selected this answer as the “Best Answer.” All questions had a Best Answer selected

Professional Background

…whether respondents claimed a professional background in the health sciences (ex: a pediatric nurse with over 25 years of experience)

Statistics

…whether respondents cited any statistics

Source

…whether respondents noted that their answer came from an external source. Many answers contained unmodified content copied and pasted from other websites.

Link

…whether a link to external websites was provided

Word Count

…the number of words in respondents’ answers

Vaccine Stance

…whether respondents claimed to have vaccinated their own children according to guidelines, skipped some vaccinations, or utilized an alternative vaccine schedule

Tone

…whether the answer was written in a hostile tone, as some questions elicited inflammatory comments/trolling