"Objective research is essential, and, clearly, that is not being put forth by the authors of the studies analyzed in these reports," says AFT president Edward J. McElroy. "It doesn’t matter if you are conservative or liberal. Bad research and inaccurate characterizations are a disservice to academia and to the students who are its central concern."

William Scheuerman, who chairs the AFT’s Higher Education program and policy council, adds "higher education professionals teach. They don't preach. They are committed to academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas in the classroom." Scheuerman, who has testified on academic freedom at various state legislatures, added that while most researchers understand the serious flaws in the studies reviewed in AFT's report, the inaccurate findings of such research is often presented as fact. "The AFT believes that accuracy and scientific integrity matter, and that the public has a right to know when research falls short of the mark."

The AFT report uses objective scientific criteria, primarily drawn from U.S. Office of Management and Budget standards, to evaluate studies on so-called faculty bias and its alleged impact on the U.S. system of higher education. The author is John Lee; he is president of JBL Associates and has more than 25 years of bipartisan work experience in the fields of postsecondary education policy and quantitative/qualitative research. In the report, Lee notes that "passing off personal opinion as fact is not science; it is the antithesis of what serious researchers try to do."

"The 'Faculty Bias' Studies: Science or Propaganda?" was sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers on behalf of Free Exchange on Campus.