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Gilligan's Answers to Atlantic Attack Leave Critics Guessing

But, for now, Gilligan continues to keep her controversial research under wraps--and the accusations continue to fly.

Allegations From the Atlantic

Many psychologists have long considered Gilligan's In a Different Voice, which purported to uncover differences in moral judgment between men and women, to be extremely well-written--but scientifically unfounded.

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"There are now dozens of studies regarding this claim, and I think it's fair to say that the vast majority do not find that these moral orientations are gender-related," says Lawrence J. Walker, a University of British Columbia professor of psychology who wrote a definitive study in 1984 casting significant doubt on Gilligan's theories.

"What has been frustrating for many scholars is Gilligan's unwillingness to deal with the psychological research, finding that she tends to dismiss it out of hand."

Some scholars examining In a Different Voice found Gilligan's work to be strong on style, but weak on solid evidence. Thick with references to classical literature, the book quotes from only a small group of interview subjects.

And those who wish to challenge Gilligan's conclusions by examining her raw research find her data "tantalizingly inaccessible," claims Sommers in May's Atlantic Monthly. Sommers cites an e-mail message from Gilligan's assistant, Tatiana Bertsch, last September stating that "none of the In a Different Voice studies have been published."

Gilligan and Bertsch now say the e-mail sent to Sommers' assistant, Hugh P. Liebert '01, was a misunderstanding.

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