Too much noise in the Times Higher Education rankings

Fred L. Bookstein (), Horst Seidler, Martin Fieder and Georg Winckler
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Fred L. Bookstein: University of Vienna
Horst Seidler: University of Vienna
Martin Fieder: University of Vienna
Georg Winckler: Rectorate of the University of Vienna

Scientometrics, 2010, vol. 85, issue 1, No 21, 295-299

Abstract: Abstract Several individual indicators from the Times Higher Education Survey (THES) data base—the overall score, the reported staff-to-student ratio, and the peer ratings—demonstrate unacceptably high fluctuation from year to year. The inappropriateness of the summary tabulations for assessing the majority of the “top 200” universities would be apparent purely for reason of this obvious statistical instability regardless of other grounds of criticism. There are far too many anomalies in the change scores of the various indices for them to be of use in the course of university management.

Keywords: Times Higher Education ranking; Rankings; Statistical noise (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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DOI: 10.1007/s11192-010-0189-5

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