Recently, I have seen a lot of questions that essentially ask, "Is this proof correct?" or "Can you verify my work is correct?" like [this one](https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/352402/probability-choose-a-box-and-then-take-exactly-two-white-balls).

Often, especially when the asker's work is in fact correct, these questions have a one-word answer. I feel that these questions could be much improved by taking advantage of an underused feature: answering your own question.

Instead of asking the question and presenting your own work in the question, if the asker feels they may have a complete solution, they ought to post this as an answer instead of including the proof in the question (mentioning instead "I have included what I believe to be a solution, and would like to make sure it is correct"). This could be made clear in the FAQ or similar pages.

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It seems that [this question](http://meta.math.stackexchange.com/questions/4597/best-way-of-asking-check-my-proof-questions?rq=1) is related, and an answer there suggests answering your own question.