This is a copy of the question I sent to the BBC’s More or Less program.
When choosing a film to watch at the cinema, I often check review sites such as Rotten Tomatoes in order to see overall percentage ‘likes’. The latest Star Trek movie achieved 87%, for example. This got me wondering, how useful is the ‘percentage likes’ statistic? How would it be different if it was weighted against certain preferences, to account for, for example, lifelong Trekkies that would have a tendency to ‘like’ a Star Trek film, however good it may be?
We’ll see if there is any response.
Pumphrey's Math 