League Tables and Rankings Have Become Increasingly Prevalent in Engagement With Public Services - Case Study Example

League tables and rankings have become increasingly prevalent in our engagement with public services (for instance schools, hospitals and universities) Discuss and critique league tables using at least two principles from the course, and discuss whether league tables are a necessity when ‘customers’ are given a choice among providers of public services. Introduction The ever growing human need and desire for gaining control and make judgments about various material and non-material things in life has led to the creation of a number of measurement techniques such as demographics, indexes etc for different quantities. With the advent of information age, the need of storing, organizing and then using this information for analysis and decision making has become possible. This has resulted in the formation of ranking systems such as league tables, which are being taken as usual standard for measuring and comparing the performances of different institution by common public. A League table is a chart or a list which demonstrates the performances of various institutions based on the rules which measure the success rate of these institutions. They are ranked on the basis of a set of rules and these tables are made available to the public. Hence, these tables become the platform for evaluating the value and prestige of the organizations included. League tables has become one of the most widely used tool for ranking may it be schools, universities, hospitals, or technologies, regulations etc. The origin of league tables could be traced to the English system of ranking. Their soccer teams were ranked using league tables by point standings and later the tables were used to rank their schools by student achievement scores. Now days, league tables are available for British universities which are upgraded annually. These are aimed to provide aspiring students and their parents with a list of universities ranks to help them decide better when choosing the University for their Future Academic Enrollments. These tables influence the public’s perception of best universities and assist the students choose the universities keeping in my mind their grades and abilities. Then. there are football league tables that rank different teams according to their scores which are based on the number of matches the teams have won during a certain period of time. Hence, different teams can compare each other through these tables and know their stand on the world level thus concluding how many matches they need to win to reach the top most position. OMB, the office of management and budget, (a part of the executive office of the President, USA) used league tables to rank health risk reducing measures. In 1992, the League table containing 50 such regulations was published with the budget. The ranking was based on the cost per life saved as a measure of investment performance formulated by the information provided by the Federal Agencies and others during the time period of 1970s and 1980s. the aim of presenting this league table was to prepare a cost effective plan for the allocation of risk reducing resources. As the government is required to spend an adequate amount on public health reforms, efforts are made to gain maximum cost-effectiveness. OMB used league tables as a tool of ranking the cost effectiveness of different health reforms and regulations in terms of numbers of lives saved. How the concept of League Tables come into being? League tables are representation of information in an aggregated form. These tables provide and are based on data i.e. information in a compressed, processed and then organized form. We are living in the midst of “information revolution” (Headrick n.d. : 5) characterized by availability of many devices for information exchange, e.g. PCs, PDAs, mobiles, which enable one to exchange information at a very fast speed. There is an abundance of information available in various forms in digital form, literature, journals etc. With the explosion of so much information, to make it useful and source of knowledge, systems with the capability of storing and organizing information in a suitable manner are required. Such system are called information system. These systems are designed not only to retrieve and organize useful information but also to store it in a manner which facilitate comparisons and analysis of the information for decision making processes. In the process of making and representing the information in a way that is readily accessible, the information is reduced to the form of data. If we look back and try to find the origins of information age, we find that the 18th and 19th century are the most knowledge hungry times. One can find the connection of the information revolution with the age of reason and revolution. It was an age marked by three major revolutions: the cultural revolution of the Enlightenment, the political revolution in Americas, and the industrial revolution which originated in Europe. The French revolutionaries in particular, had a voracious appetite for data, as they wanted to recognize the territories, change all the laws, introduce new taxes and finances and bring everything else up to date. And then the newly formed governments needed information in order to organize their administration in a better way. The needs of people and the amount of progress the government needed measurement. Also, as the number of literate people began rising, the importance of information also raised. The printing press brought a great supply of information for people and further increase in literacy rates. Other than that , the ever increasing population, manufacturing processes, extensive trade processes fuelled the demand of more and more information Hence, the growing organizations, their expanding activities around the globe, as a result of changing foreign reforms of various countries has resulted in a need of better organization and management techniques. And most of these techniques for organizing the organization’s internal structure, or measuring the performance of the organization, or planning new strategies to increase production require collection of information and also, an intelligent management of it. Recent techniques of data mining and data aggregation are used to analyze large databases to find useful patterns based on some rule. For example, “Young women with annual incomes greater than $50,000 are the most likely people to buy small sports cars”. These rules are not universally true but have a certain degree of support and confidence.(Silberschatz, et al. [1986] 2002 : 831) Next, with the ever increasing number of organizations, the competition between them to deliver the best and make maximum profits increased. “In 1960’s, the term market concept emerged, it was a revolution as the concept made the modern business change their strategies and the total activities of their business.” (Hahn 2007) According to William Stanton, marketing concept is a consumer orientation backed by integrated marketing aimed at generating customer satisfaction as the key to satisfying original goals. Hence, the companies began to realize the importance of studying consumer behavior and also keeping in track the needs and wants of the customers. Costumer satisfaction became the main goal of any company which further accelerated the need of acquiring information. This information is generally related to the findings: what costumers want, what improvements are suggested on a particular product, what motivates a costumer to buy etc. Based on the collection of this information companies began to decide on the what must be delivered to the consumers, what rectification can be done to the existing products etc. Thus, consumer behavior became an important part of the study and it was closely observed by companies to improve their services. So, with the increasing concern shifting to the costumers’ needs and wants, performance evaluation of organizations also come into being. Since, now the customer has also become aware and more conscious, he is skeptical in choosing the services and products. He tends to look, search for the best services which in his view provide good value for the money he is going to spend. This aware of his, has led to the emergence of ranking systems which evaluate various organizations on the basis of their performance. Thus, league tables are here to facilitate the consumers in deciding what level of services are available for the amount of money he can pay. Also, this system can make a costumer to spend more than he can afford in order to avail to the best of the services available. How a league table is constructed? Formation of league tables indicate the urgent requirement of collecting, analyzing, and comparing information regarding the performance of different organizations. It is an effort towards making the world more organized, classified and in order. The basis of this classification are decided by so called agencies and experts who claim to have monitored the society and come up with related data which they collect using different techniques, like surveys, analysis of various available databases, etc. The purpose of a league table comprises of while taking in consideration various parameters to assign each institution a number which is indicative of overall performance and worth. The most common method of arriving at this number comprises of three steps: “first, data is collected on indicators; second, the data for each indicator is scored; and third, the score from each indicator weighted and aggregated” (Usher & Savino 2006: 11). The range of these indicators varies for different league tables, the minimum being 5 and maximum being many dozens. In case of institutions, this is usually done by granting the maximum marks to one institution on a particular parameter which shows the best merit for that parameter, be it 100. Then other institutions are given marks according to their proximity with the highest scorer. For example, if an institution has the maximum number of students with distinction marks, let it be 25 % it will be given a perfect score of 100. The institution with second highest percentage i.e. 22% will be given (22/25 = 0.88) 88 . The institute with third highest percentage i.e. 20% will be given (20/25 = 0.80) 80 score and so on. After obtaining, the score of each indicator, they are weighted. Greater weight is given to those indicators which hold greater value and importance. For example, if the rate of graduation is given a weight of 50%. The institute with the highest graduation rate will receive a score of 50 after weighing down. Whereas the institute with the score 50 for this indicator would contribute only 25 points to the final Score. University rankings came into being as a result of people expecting more transparency, and clarity to help them compare the different educational institutions in the light of a rapidly increasing tuition fees. However, the ranking is completely dependent on the author’s choice of parameters i.e. the indicators which he thinks are necessary for judging an institution. Different people may choose different indicators attributing different qualities and quantities for the judgment. When publishers rank any institute as the top most, it’s really their own opinion of seeing things based on which they have chosen the indicators and the weighs given to those indicators. This raises the question, whether the rankings are suitable to be accepted as the universal preferences or are they simply the matter of someone’s personal choice? Is it appropriate to trust these league tables? Also, the judgments of different cultures and people may vary drastically. The basis on which the institutes are ranked as best may vary from one person to another. For example, some people may say the institutes equipped with best technologies and highly qualified faculty as best, irrespective of the tuition fees. Whereas, in others opinion institute providing quality education with an economical fee structure may be a top priority, irrespective of whether the institute owns best of the technological aids and highly qualified faculty. “Enthusiasts argue for the benefits of the new transparencies and accountabilities that the measurement of these objects brings; opponents question the efficacy and side-effects of pushing metrics into more and more areas which are properly the domain of human judgment”. (Power, 2004: 8). Keeping the many diversities in mind, constant efforts are made for reforming the ranking techniques with the inclusion of new parameters, with the changing times and people’s views, the system are reformed to keep pace with the new developments. But the idea is not given up. As it provides simplification of the complex information and help people save time which they would have spent in collecting the information. Also, people in some societies are so used to keeping the numbers count of everything in their life, like their blood pressure, average of their favorite player etc. that they welcome the idea of ranking system which seems to simplify their knowledge about the different Institutions. The methods used for collecting the data also plays a significant role in deciding the preciseness of these systems, which is the next topic of discussion. How the data for the league table is collected? Continuing with our case of Institutions, let’s see what choices do they have for collection of data on which to base their rankings. 1. Survey data: the survey could be based on the views and opinions of educationists, teachers, professors, the academicians, scholars for providing the parameters on which to measure the performances. 2. Independent third parties: Various government and non-government agencies or organizations may publish data in public interest. This data may be based on the observations of various activities and achievements of the institutes over a period of time. 3. University resources: of course, every Institute would preserve the databases of their academic achievements and contributions in a well organized manner as is the trend of this information savvy world. The storage of data is reliable and intact and the most important resource for providing facts and details. Each kind of data however has their own merits and demerits. Survey data is accurate as it’s scientific but the people involved in the survey may or may not present their serious, actual views. Their opinions may be based on incomplete information, and in some cases exaggerated in an out of proportion manner. For instance, the fresh or old graduates may have some sentimental views attached to their institutes and may not provide an accurate measure for comparison with different other institutes. The data provided by third parties (usually by government bodies) is impartial and constructed by fair means. These sources are generally regarded as “golden standard” since they take the public interests and concerns in consideration. But since the purpose of this data is not providing information for league tables, it may be incomplete in some senses which are essential for the purpose of measuring the performances. As far as the data from university resources are concerned, they prove to be quite an accurate and precise resource of useful data. But the drawback here is that most universities will share only that data which shows them in a favorable light. The controversial data and details may not be provided by them in a complete manner. All these facts indicate towards the flaws and errors of the ranking system. Hence, it is concluded that each ranking system is not accurate and there is a large degree of scope for improvements. But this not diminish the spirit of performance measurement, it’s fractured, but active making constant efforts for evolution. The consequences of using League tables that are generally overlooked There are clear intentions of political power promoting these ranking and measuring techniques as necessary and unavoidable. As it seems to help them better control people and their minds entangled in the figures and numbers. These figures are used to create a nice picture of the systems and their functioning which adjust themselves in common people’s minds. There is a term called index, “a quantitative social, economic and political measure, often a weighted combination of a number of selected individual indicators for the domain of interest.”(Marshall 1998). There are indexes used and provided by federations to measure the inflation rate i.e. retail index, another index is available for measuring the crime rate supplied by FBI for USA i.e. the crime index. Such and many other indexes are available now a days which measure poverty, unemployment, deprivation etc. the purpose of creation of these indexes can be seen as for provide matter to socialists interested in studying the recent and late trends in social problems. The indexes are also employed by various countries’ government to decrease the intensity, and hide the degree of deprivation, which on questioning can be easily contributed to the inherent fallacies of the aggregating systems. Hence, the prevalence of such quantities and figures for measuring of different social and economic conditions is promoted by governments in order to control and the impact of such conditions and condition public’s mind to numbers. These very indices then form the quantities, based on which league tables are constructed. These tables are then used by politicians and authorities to determine the amount of funds and resources which need to be spent for the development of different areas or regions which are listed on the table. Obviously, the area indicated as most prosperous would need least amount of funds for the purpose of development while the one ranked the most poor and backward would require the maximum funds and attention. “Generally, League tables are most helpful for comparing, a set of government actions with the same primary outcomes (e.g. a reduction in pre-mortality risk or acres of wetlands saved). Where an action yields a variety of beneficial outcomes the comparison becomes more problematic because these multiple benefits all need to be considered.” (The office of management and budget OMB, 2001). The league tables constructed on the basis of cost-effective ratios for calculating the effectiveness of some reforms are measured only in monetary terms. For rules that may promote ecological and public health’s significance jointly, it is not possible to clear league tables based on them as measuring parameters. The league tables based on cost effective ratios only represent the economic perspective, it has nothing to do with other values such as justice and equity in the implementation of the reforms nor there’s any method available to incorporate such parameters as indicators for league tables. What are the real world impact of League Tables? League tables, provide a general measure of performances of different Institutions, and even promote healthy competition between them to appear on the top of the list. Is the impact of league table on the low rankers really motivating them to continuously work for their betterment or does is demoralize them and render them incapable of performance improvement? “My parents (both teachers in U.K.) were forced to take a fair degree of professional interest in the annual league table, often resulting in pride one year, and dismay the next as their school’s fortune fluctuated” (Murray, 2009). When the schools are ranked on the basis of exam results only, it’s common to see them fluctuate from one position to another just in a period of one year time. Also, this ranking insures that the schools at the top would continue to maintain their status as more and more affiliated and good performers will give preference to the schools on the top. While the schools ranked at the bottom would be preferred by less enthusiastic and less efficient students thus forming these tables as standards and never letting the schools acquire the balance. The schools at the top will get best input and would thus continue to progress while those at the bottom will remain at the bottom and may even loose their capacity to ever compete with the top schools. Conclusions: Hence, we come to conclude that league tables are vastly differ from each other in terms of quality measures as these are highly variable quantities. Hence, there can be no standard way of constructing league tables. The underlying rules, and principles of league table continue to vary from time to time, and are constantly under revision. The differences are generally of geographical, cultural, and generational in nature. Mostly, league tables are formed to promote those institutions which are more affiliated in monetary terms and talent terms. Irrespective of all the controversies surrounding the league tables they are here to stay as they provide data to satisfy the common people and give them a general if not accurate data about various aspects of society. As discussed, these tables have become more of a need and are purposely promoted and established to gain control over the people’s minds and perceptions. References 1. Headrick, Information and it’s history, Chap 1, Page 5, 2. Silberschatz Avi, Korth Hank, Sudershan S. [1986] 2002 Database System Concepts, 4th Edi., published by McGraw- Hill Companies Inc. 1221, Avenue of America, New York, NY 10020, ISBN 0-07-228363-7 3. Hahn Martin 2007-04-14, the article is available online, the link is: http://www.en.articlesgratuits.com/the-marketing-concept-id1429.php 4. Usher Alex, Savino Massimo January 2006, pg.11, A world of difference: a global survey of university League Tables, Canadian Education Report Series, the article is available online at: http://www.educationalpolicy.org/pdf/World-of-Difference-200602162.pdf 5. Power Michael (2004 ) page 8. Counting, Control and Calculation: Reflections on measuring and measurement Human Relations DOI: 10.1177/0018726704044955, Vol. 57(6): 765-783, The Tavistock Institute, SAGE Publications, London 6. Marshall Gordon (1998), Index, A dictionary of Sociology, retrieved from Online encyclopedia. The online source link is: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O88-index.html 7. OMB, 2001, Ranking Regulatory Investments In Public Health, page 2, the article is available online at : http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/spec24.pdf 8. Murray James (2009), Do League tables really work? Business green blog, Incisive Media Ltd. Hay market House, 28-29, Haymarket, London SW1Y 4RX, UK. The source is available online at: http://blog.businessgreen.com/facilities/ Read More