More on Reputational Assessments

Following on my earlier chart using the peer assessment data from US News, I have superimposed the lawyer/judge assessment data.  (Click on the picture to get a better view.)  Note that the lawyer/judge data also appears to describe a bell curve, albeit one whose mean is shifted significantly (I say that in a visceral and not a statistical way) to the high side.  My wife had a interesting observation on this.  The data set for “peers” comes largely from people who graduated from schools at the far right, hence their possible “disdain” for the schools at the left.  The data set for “lawyer/judges” no doubt reflects a more representative sample of alma mater law schools, and hence a more centered distribution.

[Jeff Lipshaw]