Thursday 6 September 2007

Why law school rankings are perverse

We all suspect that the US News & World Report law school rankings are perverse and cause distortion in how law schools make decisions, but now there's proof! A study published in the AJS (American Journal of Sociology) reports on how the rankings become self-fulfilling prophecies. The authors, Wendy Nelson Espeland of Northwestern University and Michael Sauder of the University of Iowa, interviewed law-school administrators and faculty members, and they also collected data about how law schools' application and yield rates have varied over time. Among their conclusions, the authors write that "The challenge for USN is that, as a journalistic enterprise, they are unqualified to create incentive systems to change law schools. The authority of their rankings rests, precariously, on their status as valid scientific measures and USN's reputation as unbiased journalists reporting "the news" rather than creating it. "
Thanks to Pat Roncevich for bringing the study to our attention.

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