Monday, August 14, 2006

maclean's boycott!

I thought this was interesting - University Presidents from eleven of Canada's major Universities have signed a letter announcing their intention to boycott of the annual Maclean's Magazine University Rankings...
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7 comments:

  1. MattAugust 14, 2006 at 1:42 PM

    That's quite the impressive array of universities that have signed so far. I had expected to see a number of historically low-ranked universities on that list. I can't say that I blame them either - the methodology for the Maclean's rankings has always struck me as dubious.

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  2. ZacAugust 14, 2006 at 2:16 PM

    I expected those universities which always polled low to have complained but U of T, UBC, McMaster and Dal are all on there.

    It should be interesting to see if MacLeans even goes forward with a university ranking this year.

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  3. SamAugust 14, 2006 at 3:30 PM

    Oh they're going forward, with whatever information they can glean off the internet. Should be better than ever!

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  4. UWHabsAugust 14, 2006 at 7:42 PM

    Yeah, I was shocked to see some of the bigger names on the list. Macleans really does need a better methodology for ranking, and maybe this will force them to go for it now. With half the big names not giving them inside info, it will really discredit them even more.

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  5. taraAugust 15, 2006 at 11:27 AM

    when i did stats in university we always did a project testing the macleans survey for reliability and validity and it always failed.

    so if 3rd, 4th, and masters years students could figure that out, i'm not surprised that these big schools pulled out. it's too bad though, because it is an interesting read for the pre-university student.

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  6. davebertaAugust 15, 2006 at 11:32 AM

    No doubt the Maclean's survey's were an interesting read, and that was half the problem - students actually taking the rankings seriously. Just looking at the methodology proves how arbritrary the rankings are (and that no matter what, the U of T is always going to rank 1st due to sheer size, something that David Naylor seems to realize).

    Personally, I'm quite glad that the Uni Prez's have stood up to Maclean's, it's about time.

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  7. Robert McBean.August 15, 2006 at 8:14 PM

    i think i might come out with my own annual ranking of shoddy right wing sleaze magazines.

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