Ok, I can't resist:) One (hopefully final) reply on my part. This is actually a message that I've written privately to a list member in reply to their private message, but I think it might add some value. I want to stress on two things though: 1) I never said I wanted titles to be a requirement, it was simply a request for people to identify themselves more; and 2) I never claimed academics (or those with Ph.D.s or whoever) are necessarily better, or more credible, or more knowledgeable than others. As I'm sure you know, people will be more credible depending on their relevance to the matter in question. It was simply that relevance that I requested them to make clear. And I do not think that getting text book recommendations or advice on how to code content analysis is the same as talking to a stranger on a bus, although of course all information should be judged critically. Here's the message. And again thank you all for your responses, public and private. And special thanks to those who did include some kind of affiliation. To me, it adds more value and context to the message, and I still don't think it hurts anyone (unless people are bent on taking it in a negative sense). -------- Thank you for your email. I have to admit that perhaps the title I put on my message in a haste (credentials) was perhaps not conducive to the nature of my message. I actually didn't mean it in that sense. All I meant was I wanted to know if the person writing me is an academic (and if so, roughly with how much experience), professional, average reader who happens to be on the list, or sales person. And I know of course the title line doesn't necessarily provide that image or any image at all, but still, it's better than getting a sleuth of messages advising me on statistical matters (which I utterly appreciate) with only a first name signature (and it could be my ignorance that I don't know that first name, but still the result is the same). Nowhere have I mentioned anything to indicate that I value one category (academics, for example) over another, indeed in many instances a professional hacker will be a lot more credible to me than a professor who lectures about hacking, but I simply believe I have the right to know which is which, to know a little about who's talking to me about things that matter. That's all! Thanks again for your interest and for taking the time to reply. All the best. Rasha -- Rasha A. Abdulla, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Journalism and Mass Communication The American University in Cairo www.rashaabdulla.com