Korean Job Discussion Forums

[zappadelta]

Came across this today, and hadn't seen it before. Thought I would post it on here.

http://www.webometrics.info/rank_by_country.asp?country=kr&offset=0

[anynag]

Interesting, as at first I thought the main criterion might have been based predominantly on internet traffic; there was a post on this forum referencing a site like that a few months back.

The following are a couple of quotes taken from Webometrics regarding their rankings:
However web indicators are very useful for ranking purposes too as they are not based on number of visits or page design but on the global performance and visibility of the universities.

As other rankings focused only on a few relevant aspects, specially research results, web indicators based ranking reflects better the whole picture, as many other activities of professors and researchers are showed by their web presence.

[Oliver]

I wouldn't look too much into this website. Compared with the likes of the Times University rankings their rankings don't look very reliable at all.

[frankly speaking]

I think that the rankings seem pretty accurate. I think that Seoul national university took a pretty big hit though after a few academic scandals in the past 5 years. 185th still isn't that great. If you look at some of the Universities that they are linked with internationally on joint programs that they seem to be at similar levels.

Seoul National University used to have a close relationship with Syracuse University, they had a few different web links together. Syracuse used to be ranked in the top 100 global, I think that it is around 160 now, so that matches close enough.

I don't always think that all of the ranking strategies are that accurate but this looks close enough.

The sad thing is that there are only 2 schools worth attending in Korea if you go by this list.

[zappadelta]

Had no idea Kyungpook was that high.

[Oliver]

How exactly is this website making its assessment? They say something about measuring web output? What does that mean?

Not a credible source at all in my opinion. They aren't living in the real world.

[zappadelta]

[Oliver]

Compared to what?

Looks awful

[Oliver]

The Times ranking is well respected and considered very accurate.

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/

According to the Times Seoul National University is ranked at 47th in the world, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology is 69th, Pohang University of Science and Technology is 134th, Yonsei University is 151st.

Similarly, other Asian countries are well represented in the world's top 200. Most notably Japan and Hong Kong have Universities just outside the top 20.

[Thiuda]

Rankings be damned.

Rankings are interesting and to a certain extent useful, but I think they need to be taken with a grain of salt. First of all, there are a large variety of ranking agencies, like Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Times Higher Education, each of which gets a different result, because they use differing methodologies. In addition, the rankings can shift dramatically over the span of just one year. This indicates that even small shifts in the metrics used to obtain a ranking can have a large effect on the ranking when in reality little has changed. Seeing a certain rank assigned to a specific university therefore has has a strong psychological effect, but may not accurately reflect real differences between universities.

[anynag]

[anynag]

[Thiuda]

[Oliver]

Any serious student, scholar or institution would refer to an accurate and reliable ranking system such as the Times. The one that Zappadelta posted cannot be taken seriously as a ranking system. It's main indicator, it seems, is based on web presence of an institution. That says nothing about teaching and research quality or level of expertise in a particular area.

If I were to choose a University I want to know that my teachers know what they are talking about. I also want to know it has world class resources in my given area. The website which Zappadelta refers to says nothing of these.

[anynag]