This one is supposed to be the result of a survey of professors. Not once was I ever asked my opinion, nor were several of my colleagues whom I once asked. There, he was properly critical of reporters falling all over polls and neglecting to note that oftentimes people know next to nothing about the terms on which the citizenry are invited to express opinions. The tendency to pile up numbers and let them substitute for meaning reaches its point of absurdity in the rankings. Papers now routinely report box-office results.
Museums count bodies, publishers live and die by their own numbers.
Nine out of 10 doctors are still recommending. He should get out his salt-shaker, as should we all. He is a regular contributor to Salon.