The Wall Street Journal
Two of the latest attempts to rank the unrankable met with unfriendly receptions—and those dim responses may not be the work of party-poopers.
Condé Nast Traveler earlier this month grabbed headlines when it ranked Wilmington, Del., as the eighth unfriendliest city in the U.S. Local politicians had no idea what their townspeople had done to deserve it.
And this past week, Princeton Review ranked the University of Iowa as the biggest party school in the country. That ran counter to data a university spokesman cited showing a decline in binge drinking—for instance, average drinks per person per session fell to a still-inebriated 5.92 from 7.43 in 2009.
“We are merely pointing out that survey results compiled by the Princeton Review do not align with the data we are seeing and what our students are reporting,” says Tom Moore, the University of Iowa spokesman whose school’s No. 1 ranking comes after several years of finishing near, but not at, the top.
These are the latest flare-ups of a long-running conflict between the rankers and the ranked. Rankings reactions are a component of the buzz these lists deliver, which is why rankings are staples for news publications—including, at times, The Wall Street Journal—advocacy groups and just about anyone else who wants to be quoted as an authority on something.
