Martin Juno, in charge of the Benchmarking Service in London, told Tamara Sredojevic about the advantages of using this new platform to access the dataset.
Martin – We are delivering a service called the Academic Reputation Dataset to the institutions, for which we set up a new online analytics platform. But before I explain what the changes are for the user, let me get back to what this service really is.
The Academic Reputation Dataset is a data-rich solution for measuring academic performance and institutional brand recognition. It is a benchmarking tool exclusive for World Top 300 institutions that enables them to further analyse their academic performance and institutional brand perception, comparing it against a selection of at least 15 peers over a period of 3 years.
This dataset provides a breakdown of survey responses collected during our QS Global Academic Survey. It is an essential component as it feeds into the Academic Reputation indicator, worth 40% of the institutions score for the QS World University Rankings. It is also a key metric in our regional initiatives and the subject rankings.
Given the increasing sophistication of the QS Global Academic Survey, by late 2014 we started to delivering the dataset utilizing Tableau Software. We chose Tableau Software as it is one of the leading data analysis and business intelligence solutions available in the market, with an user-friendly approach. Additionally, it is widely used by higher education institutions throughout the world.
What is important to know is what we also improved the way we are delivering this dataset. It is now more flexible for the institutions. Although the pre-built visualizations offer a wealth of information, they can set up their own visualisations to navigate the dataset. For example, they can cross-reference their academic data with their research partnerships, to see if they are aligned as planned. The institutions can also compare themselves with a selection of peers, according the geographical origin of the nominations, the profile of the respondents and their institutions, the main faculty and subject areas, etc. However, the most valuable aspect of this service is that it grants access to all the valid responses we received, one by one. As the survey is anonymous and confidential we do not provide personal information of the respondents and they are only identified with a unique ID number.
This service provides a solid comparison point to understand the competitive performance of the institutions, providing a much needed input to prepare their own improvement strategy.
If you want to know more about the service, please contact [email protected]
