ArchiveDecember 19, 2014

Just how random is the peer review process?

Pretty damn random: The NIPS consistency experiment was an amazing, courageous move by the organizers this year to quantify the randomness in the review process. They split the program committee down the middle, effectively forming two independent program committees. Most submitted papers were assigned to a single side, but 10% of submissions (166) were reviewed by both halves of the committee...

Why Google doesn’t care about hiring top college graduates

Once again, glad that I am heavily funding my retirement. Google has spent years analyzing who succeeds at the company, which has moved away from a focus on GPAs, brand name schools, and interview brain teasers. Many schools don’t deliver on what they promise, Bock says, but generate a ton of debt in return for not learning what’s most useful. It’s an “extended adolescence,” he says. Succeeding...

College ratings are the Holy Grail

Had a listserv exchange with Bob Morse about the feds’ college ratings system, criticizing it and US News’ graduation rate model. He said “You are right that USNEWS is a for-profit company and we aren’t doing social science level analysis.” Here was my reply: For-profit status has nothing to do with it. When I make an error in one of my articles, I mislead about a dozen...

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Professor and quant guy. Libertarian turned populist Republican. Trying to learn Japanese and play Spanish Baroque music on the ukulele.

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