Stats
Using a charge of fraud to achieve a political end (June 23, 2006).
Category: Fraud in research
There was an interesting paper published recently:
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The 1996 Continuous Negative Extrathoracic Pressure (CNEP) trial: were parents'
allegations of research fraud fraudulent? E. Hey. Pediatrics 2006: 117(6); 2244-6.
[Medline]
[Full text]
[PDF]
The author describe a researcher who was subjected to charges of research fraud. Perhaps,
though, the charges of fraud are themselves fraudulent. The motivation, the author suggests,
may not have been the research itself but some additional controversial activities that the
researchers were involved with
The hostility stemmed from his use of covert video surveillance (under a
police-approved protocol) to investigate why some infants suffered repeated episodes of
apparently inexplicable life-threatening apnea.
Often it is difficult to follow allegations such as these, and there is no way for an
outsider to easily sort through the facts. It is worth noting, though, that other researchers
involved with controversial activities have been attacked, not for the controversial research
itself but for conducting fraudulent or unethical research.
I highlighted the case of Gretchen LeFever on my weblog
and in an article on the Chance Wiki
One possible motivation for making an accusation of fraud is that tenure protects you if
your research is controversial, but you can still get fired if a critic gets a charge of
fraud to stick. It is very important to make sure that any resolution of allegations of fraud
follow an appropriate format that allows for full and fair investigation into the facts of
the allegation.
07/08/2008.
