QS goes to Oman.

It seems that QS and THE have been quite busy lately, seeking "engagement" with various countries. QS was in Oman in September. The report contains an interesting insight into how methodological issues can lead to a university falling or rising in the rankings through no fault or merit of its own.


"A few days after the seminar, the global launch of the QS World University Rankings 2013/14 was held in Turkey, Istanbul, during which it was revealed that Sultan Qaboos University had dropped in its rankings this year too. In an exclusive statement, the head of QS Intelligence Unit, Ben Sowter, observed that most institutions in the Middle East featured in the QS World University Rankings 2013/14 have dropped in rank this year.

'Scores for academic reputation and research citations have declined across the region this year, which has caused most institutions to lose ground on the international competition,” Sowter said about the Middle East’s drop in rankings. Sowter further added that “having said that, there were over 100 new universities added to the list this year; and many of the institutions worldwide already in the rankings have noticeably improved in academic reputation. This has led to some universities, such as Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, showing a drop in ranking, even though their score may have improved relative to last year.”

Commenting on the drop of Sultan Qaboos University, he said “Sultan Qaboos University was first featured in 2011. We were initially unsuccessful in reaching anyone at SQU in order to file official numbers; hence figures that were available at the time on the university website were taken for the faculty and student numbers. However, it seems that the number used for academic staff was actually the total number of staff, thus inflating the faculty/student ration of SQU resulting in a higher ranking.

This was corrected by an official submission in 2012 by the administration at SQU. Since the position published in 2011 was unnaturally high, the drops in 2012 and 2013 have been largely corrective, rather than reflecting deterioration in SQU’s actual performance.” He added that “Analysis of our results over time reveal that institutions in general are producing more research, attracting more international research and doing a better job of communicating their achievements to the world at large. Increasingly, institutions need to exhibit continuous improvement just to maintain the same position, and a drop in overall ranking may not signify an objective deterioration in performance. Such may be the case for SQU.” '

THE Criticised by its Own Adviser

Simon Marginson has been a critic of the QS university rankings for some time. Now, he has finally added the Times Higher Education rankings to the list.

According to the Australian:

"What we should collectively do, in my view, is start to critique and discredit the bad social science at the base of multi-indicator rankings," he said. "We are universities; it is not hard for us to say what is good science and what is bad. We need to push at bad ranking methods or at least weaken their legitimacy." He told the Canberra meeting that threats by QS to sue him, and the predilection of governments to use rankings as a proxy for quality, made speaking out even more important. He said the results of questionable rankings "slide in all directions" from year to year because they mix survey and objective data, and adjust arbitrary weightings. "The link back to the real world is over-determined by indicator selection, weightings, poor survey returns and ignorant respondents, scaling decisions and surface fluctuation that is driven by small changes between almost equally ranked universities," he said. "The rankers shape the table, not the real state of the sector - or not enough. There is scope for manipulation in conversations between the universities and the rankers." Professor Marginson, who has been a vocal opponent of survey-based rankings for years, sits on the advisory board of the THE. While that ranking was superior to QS, it was still fatally flawed once outside the top 50 universities, he said.

The Rise of Pseudoscience

In the midst of celebrating its rise to glory in the Times Higher Education World Education, Panjab University have taken the time to hold a meeting and what has "India's Top University" done?

It has agreed to give affiliation to the Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital in Sector 26.

PU is not alone. The appeasement of pseudoscience is becoming increasingly widespread. In Malaysia the Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences is offering a degree in homeopathy, apparently approved by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency. Meanwhile, the British Health Secretary is a true believer in homeopathy. No doubt the Ministry of Defence will be appointing generals who believe in complementary warfare like archery -- after all, it worked wonders at Agincourt.

E-book on Rankings

I am publishing an e-book on rankings consisting of articles previously published in University World News, the Philippine Daily Inquirer and the Asian Journal of University Education plus a selection of posts from this blog. Go to http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FU8RFCS  to view or purchase the kindle edition.