Message-ID: <33A0644A.29A3@yale.edu>
Date: Thu, 12 Jun 1997 17:04:10 -0400
From: DJR <daniel.ryan@yale.edu>
Reply-To: daniel.ryan@yale.edu
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To: socgrad@csf.colorado.edu
Subject: ratings
References: <Pine.SOL.3.96.970612110205.1830E-100000@bach.helios.nd.edu>
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I'd be the first person to stand up and have his skepticism about things
like departmental ratings counted (don't get me started), but, one might
as well have a look at the thing one is criticizing, might one well
not?  Here are some links with such stuff....


USNEWS sociology ratings

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/beyond/gsocio.htm

USNEWS sociology specialty ratings

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/beyond/gbsocspe.htm


You can access the National Research Council report "Research-Doctorate
Programs in the United States: Continuity and Change" at 

 http://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/researchdoc/

The data for sociology is available in excel 5.0 format (it's labeled
Table M-7 Selected Characteristics of Research-Doctorate Programs in
Sociology) at:

ftp://www.nas.edu/pub/reports/research_doctorate_programs_in_the_united_states/appendix_m/t20soc.xls


A paper asking what the National Research Council ratings really mean
called "WHAT DO THE NRC GRADUATE PROGRAM RATINGS MEASURE?" by Robert K.
Toutkoushian, and Halil Dundar, William E. Becker at

http://usnh.unh.edu/analysis/neair.html


Just for grins, let's compare the two lists.  But first, you might want
to guess at the top twenty five based on your own experience and
prejudices and see how your list compares with theirs. Both web sites
mentioned above explain the methods used to compute the ranks.  Or, ask
the folks on hiring committees at your school which schools they put
first in looking at new hires.  Or, more empirically still, look over
the folks brought in as job candidates the last few years -- where do
they fall on the list?  Personally, I think the "interviews garnered by"
would be an interesting point of comparison.  Anyway, here they are...


NRC LIST                          USN LIST (showing ties)

University of Chicago	          1. University of Chicago
University of Wisconsin-Madison	  1. University of Wisconsin at Madison
University of California-Berkeley 3. University of California at
Berkeley
University of Michigan            3. University of Michigan at Ann Arbor
Univ of California-Los Angeles    5. University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill
U of North Carolina-Chapel Hill   6. Harvard University
Harvard University                6. University of California at Los
Angeles
Stanford University               8. Northwestern University (Ill.)
Northwestern University           8. Stanford University
University of Washington         10. Indiana University at Bloomington 
University of Pennsylvania       10. University of Arizona
Indiana University               10. University of Washington 
Princeton University             13. Columbia University (N.Y.)
University of Arizona            13. University of Texas at Austin
Columbia University              15. Princeton University
University of Texas at Austin    15. University of Pennsylvania 
Johns Hopkins University         17. Duke University (N.C.)
Pennsylvania State University    17. Johns Hopkins University (Md.)
Yale University                  19. Cornell University (N.Y.)
Duke University                  19. University of Minnesota at Twin
Cities
New York University              21. Pennsylvania State University at
University Park
Univ of California-San Diego     21. University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign
Univ of California-Santa Barbara 23. State University of New York at
Stony Brook
University of Minnesota          23. Yale University
State U of New York-Stony Brook  25. Ohio State University at Columbus