For Accurate Evaluation

To the Editors of The Crimson:

Accurate interdepartmental comparisons can be achieved rather simply. To compare, for example, the Economics grading policy with the Government grading policy, one would only have to examine two gauges: the group of Economics concentrators who took Government courses, and the group of Government concentrators who took Economics courses. By comparing the grades which each group received in each department with the grades received in that department as a whole, one could get a good idea of how the grading policies differed.

Some examples, with numbers:

Suppose 30 per cent of the grades received in the Ec department were A's or A-'s, and 15 per cent of department grades received in the Gov department were A's or A-'s. Suppose that the Ec concentrators received A's or A-'s in 30 per cent of their courses in each department, and the Gov concentrators received A's or A-'s in 15 per cent of their courses in each department. This would show that the grading policies were the same in both departments, and that the Gov students simply weren't as bright as the Ec students.

Same hypotheses as above, except the Ec students now receive A's or A-'s in 30 per cent of their courses in the Ec department and 15 of their courses in the Gov department while the Gov students now receive A's or A-'s in 15 per cent of their courses in the Gov department, and 30 per cent of their courses in the Ec department. This would show that the Ec department had a significantly more lenient grading policy than the Gov department, and that the Gov students were as intelligent as the Ec students.

It is left to the reader to formulate an example which shows the Gov grading policy to be harsher than the Ec grading policy, and the Gov students to be more intelligent than the Ec students. John A. Weiser '77