When I flag a duplicate it's usually because I've found an older question with substantial topical overlap and an answer that covers the new question completely. Sometimes I hesitate because the new question is actually asking the same thing as the old question, but much more clearly. So I'm confronted with a "bad" (poorly worded/formatted/developed) question with "good" answers and a "good" question with potentially "bad" answers, no answers or also some "good" answers. What's the best practice here? Is it the responsibility of the moderators handling the flag to attempt to merge (I could then suggest it when I flag)? If the questions are similar enough, should I suggest an edit completely replacing the "bad" question with the "good" one? This robs the author of the "good" question of any rep from votes and could wreak havoc on any comment discussion. Anyone have some insight on saving these "good" duplicates?
This is some related discussion: http://meta.physics.stackexchange.com/questions/648/liberal-definition-of-duplicate-questions-and-the-health-of-physics-stack-exchanLiberal definition of duplicate questions and the health of physics stack exchange.
