The File is a collection of documents from a major dispute
involving a number of American college professors, mainly
mathematicians, statisticians,and sociologists. The
controversy was ignited by the mathematician Serge Lang's
reaction to a questionnaire, "The 1977 Survey of the
American Professoriate", distributed by E. C. Ladd of the
University of Connecticut and S. M. Lipset of Stanford. The
ensuing discussion - in part acrimonious and personal - soon
involved a large group of active and passive participants,
and included issues such as survey techniques, evaluation of
academic work, public and political honesty, and McCarthyism
at Harvard.
Serge Lang
Action Hochschullehrer Questionnaire Vereinigte Staaten /Hochschulwesen development evaluation memory methodology objectivity public opinion quality research sociology university