United States National Research Council rankings

The United States National Research Council conducts a survey and compiles a report on United States Research-Doctorate Programs approximately every 10 years, although the time elapsed between each new ranking has exceeded 10 years. Data collection for the most recent report began in June 2006;[1] it was released on September 28, 2010. These rankings did not provide exact ranks for any university; rather, they used a scale system that provided statistical ranges for each rank. Two series of rankings were offered - R Rankings, based on regression analyses of various survey results in which academics reviewed the reputation of actual programs; and S Rankings, based on how various programs' characteristics measured against criteria which academics rated as key determinants of quality for such programs.[2]

The 2010 rankings have been criticized for using incorrect and inconsistent data that "does not pass even a rudimentary sanity check"[3][4][5] and for groupthink in the committee process that led to bad decisions in compiling the report.[6]

References

  1. ^ Morse, Robert (July 9, 2009), "The Wait for the National Research Council Rankings Continues", U.S. News & World Report, http://www.usnews.com/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2009/07/09/the-wait-for-the-national-research-council-rankings-continues.html .
  2. ^ Assessment of Research Doctorate Programs, U.S. National Academies, http://sites.nationalacademies.org/pga/Resdoc/index.htm .
  3. ^ Erroneous NRC Ranking Data for UW CSE, University of Washington Department of Computer Science and Engineering, retrieved 2010-09-29.
  4. ^ NRC Doctoral Rankings and Computer Science, Peter Harsha, Computing Research Association, September 28, 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-29.
  5. ^ Glenn, David (October 6, 2010), "Computer Scientists Cry Foul Over Data Problems in NRC Rankings", Chronicle of Higher Education, http://chronicle.com/article/Computer-Scientists-Cry-Foul/124840/ .
  6. ^ Cole, Jonathan R. (April 24, 2011), "Too Big to Fail: How 'better than nothing' defined the National Research Council's graduate rankings", Chronicle of Higher Education, http://chronicle.com/article/Too-Big-to-Fail/127212/ .

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