Who's #1? The science of rating and ranking

摘要

The authors describe this book as arising from the fact that they could not find a single convenient source containing the multitude of methods and applications of rating and ranking. Since the domain is indeed vast, with a huge number of applications, this is not surprising. Applications include rating and ranking sports teams, chess players, films, university departments, university graduates, surgeons, election candidates, and, of course, the modern classic of websites. The book emphasises sports teams and adopts a simple running example using American football data. This is, perhaps, a pity, since it means that much relevant material is omitted - such as a discussion of league tables in social policy contexts.