Abstract
We present a data-based perspective concerning the recent Maclean’s magazine rankings of Canadian universities, including cluster and other analyses of the 2007 and 2008 data. Canadian universities empirically resemble and relate to each other in a manner different from their formal classification and final rank ordering in the Maclean’s system. Several pitfalls in ranking procedures, related to invalid and unreliable relationships among indices underlying the final ranks, are outlined, along with relevant findings from previous studies. In their present format, although they have become increasingly publicized and promoted, data based on the Maclean’s system are of limited practical use to students. Perhaps more important, ranking exercises have unintended though potentially serious consequences in terms of the intellectual and personal well-being of students.
Highlights
In November 2007 and December 2008, Maclean’s published its 18th and 19th annual rankings of Canadian universities
We have examined the Maclean’s ranking parameters and published data, including the extent to which the indices were intercorrelated and related to the overall final rankings assigned
We have found consistently that the main measures and component indices used by Maclean’s are internally inconsistent and not reliably related either to each other or to final ranks
Summary
In November 2007 and December 2008, Maclean’s published its 18th and 19th annual rankings of Canadian universities. The ranking of universities has become a popular exercise with which to assess and promote higher education in North America (e.g., Bruneau & Savage, 2001; Cramer & Page, 2007; Page & Cramer, 2002, 2003; Page, Cramer, & Page, 2008; Provan & Abercromby, 2000). The ranking approach is similar to that used by publications such as Consumer Reports, in which goods or services are assigned scores, and assigned relative rank standings. We summarize our examination of the 2007 and 2008 ranking data, and present implications of ranking exercises for the issue of student welfare
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