A Statistical Analysis of the 1992 Research Assessment Exercise

Jim Taylor

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, 1995, vol. 158, issue 2, 241-261

Abstract: This paper reports the main results of a statistical analysis of the 1992 research assessment exercise (RAE), the purpose of which was to assess the quality of research in each subject area in all institutions of higher education in the UK. The analysis is undertaken for all 72 subject categories defined in the RAE. It provides an overview of the research activity during 1988–92 and examines the statistical relationship between the outcome of the RAE and a range of quantitative indicators based on various research outputs and inputs at institutional and subject level. A high proportion of the variation in research ratings between institutions is accounted for by only a handful of explanatory variables. Departmental size is shown to be a major explanatory variable. The statistical analysis of the RAE therefore indicates that quantitative measures of research outputs and inputs provide a useful guide to the quality of research, as determined by the process of peer review.

Date: 1995
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.2307/2983291

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:jorssa:v:158:y:1995:i:2:p:241-261

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://ordering.onli ... 1111/(ISSN)1467-985X

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A is currently edited by A. Chevalier and L. Sharples

More articles in Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A from Royal Statistical Society Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().