The Volokh Conspiracy has a post up on the survey of faculty political beliefs that we linked to yesterday, arguing that it understates professors’ leftward tilt.

First, it says, research suggests that the 28% of survey respondents who consider themselves “middle of the road” are probably more liberal than the average American moderate. Second, it notes that the only left-wing options offered were “liberal” or “far left,” and wonders if the inclusion of a “radical” option would have brought the left-of-liberal numbers up. 

My own sense is that surveys like this are more useful for examining change over time rather than for their precise numbers, but it’s always good to take a hard look at their assumptions and skews anyway.