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Measuring Excellence in Social Sciences and Humanities: Limitations and Opportunities

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Global University Rankings

Abstract

Despite their short history, global university rankings have gained wide visibility in the media’s way of reporting on academic life. At the same time, most people at European universities pay little attention to rankings because they are all too well aware of the problems in compiling them: the indicators used are onesided, and the aggregate universitylevel approach tells us little about the quality of research in various departments. Despite these shortcomings, rankings have a clear influence on the opinions of people who matter to the universities: politicians, prospective students, international collaborative partners. Therefore, it is not wise to close one’s eyes to what is happening in the ranking business.

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Authors
  1. Arto Mustajoki
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Helsinki, Finland

    Tero Erkkilä

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© 2013 Arto Mustajoki

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Mustajoki, A. (2013). Measuring Excellence in Social Sciences and Humanities: Limitations and Opportunities. In: Erkkilä, T. (eds) Global University Rankings. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137296870_9

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