In a sweeping commentary on the origins and purposes of higher education rankings, and current trends in large-scale survey data in higher education, Bob Zemsky takes on these questions. He analyzes current rankings instruments and fads, establishing how they are much more indicators of institutions' market position than barometers of quality. He also points to promising instruments and trends in data collection that, if properly and funded, may be able to helpfully inform the U.S. system of higher education.
For Zemsky, a valid customer satisfaction-type survey would offer the best chance of accomplishing what the rankings set out to do: measure and rank institutions based on academic quality. But with a potentially exorbitant price tag and loaded with political security difficulty, such a survey would be very difficult to administer.
"The Rain Man Cometh - Again" appears in Academy of Management Perspectives, 22(1).