File

The File is a collection of documents from a major disputeinvolving a number of American college professors, mainlymathematicians, statisticians,and sociologists. Thecontroversy was ignited by the mathematician Serge Lang'sreaction to a questionnaire, "e;The 1977 Survey of theAmerican Professoriate"e;, distributed by E. C. Ladd of theUniversity of Connecticut and S. M. Lipset of Stanford. Theensuing discussion - in part acrimonious and personal - sooninvolved a large group of active and passive participants,and included issues such as survey techniques, evaluation ofacademic work, public and political honesty, and McCarthyismat Harvard.