Similar debates are happening in customer experience research circles as well (e.g. 11 point Net Promoter Rating Scale vs. a simple binary ‘would you recommend it’ (Yes/No) question – which I am a fan of).

So I don’t want to appear negative about ratings, especially professional ratings (whilst I’d be happy with my friend telling me if a film was good or not (binary), I’d really value a professional movie critic telling me just how good it was). I simply think there may be method to YouTube’s madness; from a research perspective, binary questions may be sometimes easier to answer, and may have more research validity and reliability – so better for informing choices. They are definitely a LOT easier to analyse;-). But will the death of ratings on YouTube be the catalyst their general demise? I certainly don’t think – or hope – so.