Why should sites like rate my professor proliferate if they are not statistically valid for making inferences?

Question

Students are supposed to rely upon these sites yet the majority of
ratings I have seen are small in sample size for each class and
tend to be written by ner do wells(complainers) who don't put
forth the effort to succeed in the course they rate. Thus they
contain non-representative and biased samples of students
responses. My advice is to take each rating with a grain of salt and make-up your own minds!!!

Answer 1

I agree. These ratings are by no means statistically valid. Students who post on these sites are usually highly motivated in either a positive or negative way.

Students have posted about me quite often. The posts are always either gushing rave reviews, or strong condemnations. The comments also vary in that sometimes they attempt to "rate" my teaching, and other times, they attempt to "rate" the course.

A colleague of mine once got a very low rating justified by the comment that "he wears this one ugly yellow tie all the time."

I suppose I am fortunate in that the "raves" predominate (and that no one thus far has commented on my relative lack of sartorial sophistication), but that's just dumb luck. It easily could have gone the other way, especially since I often teach one introductory course that fulfills a university requirement, and a large proportion of students who take that course are not only resentful of the requirement, but also distressed to learn that they are actually expected to think critically, read closely, and write well in order to earn a passing grade.

(Other requirement--fulfilling courses of this sort in other departments are often quite easy, requiring little in the way of critical thinking, and next to nothing in the way of writing. Multiple choice exams are common.)

I offer this admittedly anecdotal evidence to support your contention, but also to add that the "raves" are also not likely to reflect every student's experience.

Answer 2

the advice i want are from students who dont put forth the effort because thats me. I want to know if i can pass without doing anything.

Answer 3

I think you've spent too much time using SPSS! lol