Academic reputation survey launched to revamp institutional assessment
Thomson Reuters has launched its highly anticipated Academic Reputation Survey, part of the Global Institutional Profiles Project to revamp how academic institutions are profiled and analyzed.
The Academic Reputation Survey, that will help inform the Times Higher Education's influential World University Rankings, reflects a new approach to data gathering and analytics to provide a one-of-a-kind resource to the global scholarly community.
A unique feature of the Thomson Reuters reputation survey is an opportunity for disciplinary focus: academics will highlight what they believe to be the strongest universities in their specific fields, both in teaching and research. With the ability to select from hundreds of disciplines and over 6,000 academic institutions, scholars will have great latitude in pinpointing their reputational assessment.
Thomson Reuters sought to address five major criticisms from previous surveys with its new methodology:
- Biased toward North America and Western Europe
- Biased toward English speakers
- Asked unrealistic questions that perpetuated high scores for the traditionally "elite" institutions
- Limited selection of institutions; favored the traditionally elite
- Did not take teaching into account
You can download the methodology report from the project website. After the 2010 survey closes, Thomson Reuters will post the instrument to the site and offer further review of the problems we identified, our proposed methodological solutions, and how things played out in real-world logistics.
The Academic Reputation Survey represents Stage 2 of the Profiles Project. The project website enables visitors to navigate the initiative's major stages to learn more about the ongoing process. The website is updated as new stages commence or resolve, and you can register for email alerts.