The ranking of a university was based on how well it placed according to about twenty measures. To start off with, the universities were divided into three categories: primarily undergraduate, comprehensive, and medical doctoral. This division is to group together universities with similar structures and mandates, so as to not give one an edge over another. Within these categories the universities are evaluated based on student body, classes, faculty, finances, library and reputation. Within these sub-categories there are further breakdowns of evaluation.

Reliability in research means the dependability or consistency of the measure of a variable . In this research, the variables are the twenty measures outlined in the article. The responses that could be given to these measures could be varied and have a lack of consistency. This is an obstacle in the reliability of the research. What provides reliability in the research is the fact that the measures remained constant and unchanging for each university.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Introduction Canadian, Macleans Magazine, Analysis Research, University Officials, Usefulness Findings, Purpose Research, Corporate Recruiters, data collection, Collection Methods, Innovative Leaders, data collection method, canadian universities, validity research, reliability validity, collection method, validity study, student body, validity data, undergraduate experience, reliability research, Response Rate, reputation macleans magazine, reliability validity study, student body classes, body classes faculty,
Approximate Word count = 867
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)