Measuring Benefits of Smaller Amounts in Same Container

Is your degree worth it?: It depends what you study, not where | The Economist.

There is a fallacy in these statistics.  I commented.

Just as consumers can be fooled into believing that today’s can of “whatever” contains the same amount as yesterday’s, so can “consumers” of today’s degrees be fooled into thinking they contain the same amount of “education” as did yesterday’s. Since it is hard to measure education, it is that much easier for marketers to fool “consumers” (once quaintly called “students).

Claiming the consumer will benefit just as much from the smaller amount of product by measuring the benefits from the old amount is misleading.

To see the change in the product, either read the seminal “Academically Adrift” which does measure the difference in the product; or, read my blog, inside-higher-ed, for both a summary of some of their work, or, for a peak inside the factory that sells the product.