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Who's #1? The Science of Rating and Ranking
The mathematics behind today's most widely used rating and ranking methods
A website's ranking on Google can spell the difference between success and failure for a new business. NCAA football ratings determine which schools get to play for the big money in postseason bowl games. Product ratings influence everything from the clothes we wear to the movies we select on Netflix. Ratings and rankings are everywhere, but how exactly do they work? Who's #1? offers an engaging and accessible account of how scientific rating and ranking methods are created and applied to a variety of uses.
Amy Langville and Carl Meyer provide the first comprehensive overview of the mathematical algorithms and methods used to rate and rank sports teams, political candidates, products, Web pages, and more. In a series of interesting asides, Langville and Meyer provide fascinating insights into the ingenious contributions of many of the field's pioneers. They survey and compare the different methods employed today, showing why their strengths and weaknesses depend on the underlying goal, and explaining why and when a given method should be considered. Langville and Meyer also describe what can and can't be expected from the most widely used systems.
The science of rating and ranking touches virtually every facet of our lives, and now you don't need to be an expert to understand how it really works. Who's #1? is the definitive introduction to the subject. It features easy-to-understand examples and interesting trivia and historical facts, and much of the required mathematics is included.
A website's ranking on Google can spell the difference between success and failure for a new business. NCAA football ratings determine which schools get to play for the big money in postseason bowl games. Product ratings influence everything from the clothes we wear to the movies we select on Netflix. Ratings and rankings are everywhere, but how exactly do they work? Who's #1? offers an engaging and accessible account of how scientific rating and ranking methods are created and applied to a variety of uses.
Amy Langville and Carl Meyer provide the first comprehensive overview of the mathematical algorithms and methods used to rate and rank sports teams, political candidates, products, Web pages, and more. In a series of interesting asides, Langville and Meyer provide fascinating insights into the ingenious contributions of many of the field's pioneers. They survey and compare the different methods employed today, showing why their strengths and weaknesses depend on the underlying goal, and explaining why and when a given method should be considered. Langville and Meyer also describe what can and can't be expected from the most widely used systems.
The science of rating and ranking touches virtually every facet of our lives, and now you don't need to be an expert to understand how it really works. Who's #1? is the definitive introduction to the subject. It features easy-to-understand examples and interesting trivia and historical facts, and much of the required mathematics is included.
266 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
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207 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 12, 2012
This is a very readable math textbook. Professors will find lots of excellent material for side projects here. Most is particularly appropriate for linear algebra students, but there are also bits and pieces of statistics and combinatorics.
Mathematicians with a research (or hobby) interest in generating rankings will particularly enjoy having all the available details of many well-known ranking systems collected in one volume. The math is all here, along with the motivation, the practical issues to be considered in applications, and a wealth of well-chosen examples.
The level is appropriate for, say, an undergraduate math major in the junior year. I think such a student could learn a lot even by skimming this book: One gets a very clear idea of the reality of applied math -- how the objective, concrete results of the various ranking methods depend on the subjective hypotheses and value judgments made along the way.
Highly recommended.
Mathematicians with a research (or hobby) interest in generating rankings will particularly enjoy having all the available details of many well-known ranking systems collected in one volume. The math is all here, along with the motivation, the practical issues to be considered in applications, and a wealth of well-chosen examples.
The level is appropriate for, say, an undergraduate math major in the junior year. I think such a student could learn a lot even by skimming this book: One gets a very clear idea of the reality of applied math -- how the objective, concrete results of the various ranking methods depend on the subjective hypotheses and value judgments made along the way.
Highly recommended.
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September 27, 2016Recommended by Hope McIlwain on FB.
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September 28, 2016recommended by Hope through #LoveYourMath
January 24, 2021
It's really intuitive well organized and decently well explained although only sexy for people with mathematical and statistical inclination.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews