Data was weighted to be representative of each city as a whole.

FORBES: Washington D.C. Residents Most Likely To Go On Vacation, Chicagoans Least Likely

The data was weighted to be demographically representative of all British adults.

BBC: Poll suggests public want much tighter press controls

The data were weighted to reflect the population.

BBC: Banks help scheme 'shows failure'

The data metrics are weighted equally in the final scoring.

FORBES: America's Most Miserable Cities: Behind The Numbers

We attempted to quantify 'coolness' for the 65 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas and Metropolitan Divisions (areas that include cities and their surrounding suburbs as defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget) based on seven data points we weighted evenly.

FORBES: Introduction

The index is proportionally weighted based on foreign-exchange trading volume data from the Bank for International Settlements' triennial central-bank survey on global foreign-exchange market activity.

WSJ: WSJ, FX Trader Launch Dollar Index

Memory has been built into the rankings by taking a weighted average of 2009 (50%), 2008 (30%)and 2007 (20%) data to provide a rounded picture of the school.

ECONOMIST: Which MBA? rankings