Clear as Mud: Measuring Doctoral Programs in the United States

• Published in: PsycCritiques Vol. 57; no. 9; p. No Pagination Specified
• Main Author: Frank, Robert G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Psychological Association 29.02.2012
• Subjects: Graduate Education; Human; Measurement
• DOI: 10.1037/a0027212
• ISSN: 1554-0138

Reviews the book, A Data-Based Assessment of Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States by Jeremiah P. Ostriker, Charlotte V. Kuh, and James A. Voytuk (see record 2010-20723-000). This book is the third published study of doctoral education since 1985. The National Research Council (NRC), part of the National Academies of Science that operates under congressional charter, participated in the first two studies and is the lead for this report. Together, these three reports show how the definition and organization of doctoral education are changing in the United States. This book attempts to move the measurement of graduate education by creating a truly empirical, multidimensional approach. Rather than relying upon faculty opinions that are unduly influenced by program size and historic reputation, the NRC study relies upon 20 variables that can be assessed for each program. The resulting model provides ranking bands rather than single-point ratings. The model allows graduate programs to manipulate the data to compare variables critical to each program. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)