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Well, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, today Turkey tops the world in the number of imprisoned journalists: http://cpj.org/imprisoned/2012.php

Well, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, today Turkey tops the world in the number of imprisoned journalists: http://cpj.org/imprisoned/2012.php http://cpj.org/imprisoned/2012.php No journalists are jailed in Russia at the moment, but Russia comes in 4th in the world in the number of journalists killed since 1992 with 56 deaths: http://cpj.org/killed/ http://cpj.org/killed/ Turkey is 13th with 21 deaths. Statistics are indeed useful when we're separating these sort of extremes. The article gives the example of Norway being less corrupt than Angola, asserting that you "don't need an index" to tell you that. But comparing Norway and Denmark is where rankings are less useful, according to the author. The argument is not that it is always impossible to compare different countries in quantitative terms.

wtvanhest 13y ago
My point is that the author of the paper wants to be paid to work for an NGO but doesn't believe in actually solidifying their opinion. Listing a bunch of stuff is not the same as saying this list means you should a) Build a product in this country, or B) You should not build a product. Essentially he is being paid for very basic research which is not useful without an expert in the field. He wants a guy at Big Corp. to make the final decision so he can wash his hands of it. I don't support this type of thinking. I would prefer that the author openly select the best country and stand by his opinion. Maybe it doesn't make sense to rank country A #132 and country B #135, but it definitely makes sense to give them a rating in several categories and draw a distinct line. Or possibly, there is something I don't understand about the business.
- Jongseong 13y ago
  To defend the author's position, I would be wary of providing a single ranking because the metrics are going to be different for different needs. Say you're ranking different lodging options at a holiday destination. You can come up with a single ranking for all the options, whether they are hotels, hostels, bed & breakfast inns. But it would be meaningless except to weed out the really bad options unless you knew what the preferences would be in terms of price, location, atmosphere, decor, etc. Such an index could still be useful, perhaps, but I see where the author is coming from.

wtvanhest 13y ago

My point is that the author of the paper wants to be paid to work for an NGO but doesn't believe in actually solidifying their opinion. Listing a bunch of stuff is not the same as saying this list means you should a) Build a product in this country, or B) You should not build a product. Essentially he is being paid for very basic research which is not useful without an expert in the field. He wants a guy at Big Corp. to make the final decision so he can wash his hands of it. I don't support this type of thinking. I would prefer that the author openly select the best country and stand by his opinion. Maybe it doesn't make sense to rank country A #132 and country B #135, but it definitely makes sense to give them a rating in several categories and draw a distinct line. Or possibly, there is something I don't understand about the business.

Jongseong 13y ago
To defend the author's position, I would be wary of providing a single ranking because the metrics are going to be different for different needs. Say you're ranking different lodging options at a holiday destination. You can come up with a single ranking for all the options, whether they are hotels, hostels, bed & breakfast inns. But it would be meaningless except to weed out the really bad options unless you knew what the preferences would be in terms of price, location, atmosphere, decor, etc. Such an index could still be useful, perhaps, but I see where the author is coming from.