Upon receiving an audit report from the International Association of Survey Research Scientists, Poets & Writers magazine will cease publication of the so-called ranking of MFA programs. The rankings had become a fall staple of the magazine. “We’ve come to recognize that the rankings are not just misleading, they’re harmful,” Jason Terry, a P&W senior director said. “What can I say? We have egg on our face. We regret that they may have influenced MFA program applicants to spend money on applying to programs for which they were ill-suited.”
The audit was undertaken on the IASRS’s own initiative. Senior Research Analyst Melanie Cornbluth. (PhD, JD, MBA) explained that the audit was difficult to conduct because, “Poets & Writers had none of the raw underlying data we typically examine. They could not produce the qualifications of the research team. They had no demographic information on those who responded to survey questions so it is impossible to tell how age, geographic location, marital status, income, and such may have influenced one’s reasons for applying to one program over another. We had our job cut out for us."
According to Singh, self-selected surveys by definition do not represent the target population. “There is no way that the ranking reflects the opinions of the full community of MFA hopefuls. And who made the cockamamie decision to rely solely on the opinions of those who have never set foot in an MFA classroom to evaluate MFA programs? No serious editorial enterprise should have touched this so-called research with a ten-foot pole."
For a survey to be credible, every member of the population under study must have an equal chance to participate. “To begin with,” says Singh, “It is well documented that Facebook use is in decline among the under-30 set. An already corrupt process would become more so going forward."
It’s no secret that we’ve objected to the ranking from the start. We’re delighted that P & W has come to the recognition that the ranking issue caused more harm than could possibly be justified by the wished-for publicity, even bad publicity, that helps sell copies of magazines.
This is brilliant, and I wish it weren't just an April Fool's joke. The survey should be a laughingstock; its influence is appalling.
Posted by: B | April 05, 2014 at 06:41 PM
Totally got me. Very nice.
Posted by: M | April 05, 2014 at 10:01 PM
I agree "B" and we've only scratched the surface of what's wrong with the survey and the way the results are reported. Poets & Writers should be ashamed to have any association with it whatsoever. I don't understand why they've continued - oh, wait! yes I do: $$$$
Posted by: Stacey | April 09, 2014 at 12:38 PM
if only this were true
Posted by: s | May 02, 2014 at 11:07 AM
If you are a Canadian and Loblaws customer you get a golden chance, Loblaws provides a survey for their customer's Opinions on their store. In the part of the survey, Loblaws gives the best chance to win a $1000 Optimum Pc gift card to the survey winners by taking the survey at https://storeopinion-can.com/.
Posted by: Alexoliver | September 10, 2023 at 08:22 AM