Why Do Rankings Change When Nothing Does?

Step 1 of 5

Ranking is sorting, then numbering.

You put things in order and hand out positions. All the information about how much better is thrown away at that moment.

Step 2 of 5

Equal gaps are a lie the podium tells.

First and second look one step apart, and so do second and third. On the actual scores the first gap can be a hundred times the second.

Step 3 of 5

Tiny changes flip positions.

When two things are nearly equal, a hair's difference decides the order — and next week the other one wins by a hair and the table looks transformed.

Step 4 of 5

Averaging ranks makes it worse.

Adding up positions across several tables treats a narrow win and a landslide as identical, so the combined table can rank nobody's actual favourite first.

Step 5 of 5

Keep the numbers if you can.

A ranking is a summary, and like every summary it is smaller than what it describes. When the gaps matter, show the scores.

This is why league tables shown with the actual points make a season look completely different from the positions alone.