the perp Diederik Stapel
Posted on 03/11/2014 1:23:49 PM PDT by fishtank
Another case of academic fraud highlights cheating in the sciences
by Shane Cessna
Many people think that science is about impartial observation and the reporting of facts. But scientists, like all human beings, have biases, agendas and belief systems that cause them to interpret facts in a certain way. It’s normal for people to want to also convince others of what they believe, and unfortunately they sometimes stretch the point in trying to get others on board. Also, in the research world it’s all about tenure and funding. If one makes a spectacular claim or find, money and notoriety often follow—as long as these claims fit within the ruling scientific paradigm.
Today, science is equated with naturalism. Naturalism is the belief that everything in existence came about through natural processes. Many currently observed natural processes are extrapolated back into the past over vast eons of time. For example, in geology, one often hears the mantra, “The present is the key to the past.” Only materialistic explanations are allowed to explain the world we live in, no matter if the facts point to a contrary hypothesis.
Evolutionist biologist and geneticist Richard Lewontin wrote:
We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is an absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door. In order to deny the possibility of a non-materialistic explanation, some scientists will go to great lengths to massage data, exclude discrepancies, or even make up data to support their hypothesis. One of the more recent glaring examples is Dr. Diederik Stapel1, a Dutch social psychologist, who pulled off a daring string of academic frauds by fabricating data to support his underlying hypotheses. After remaining undetected for several years, two suspicious students examined his near perfect data after noting different studies with nearly identical results. When Stapel was confronted by university staff, he admitted to dumping surveys in the trash. He confessed to making up results to look good for scientific journals and grant proposals, and to satisfy his lifelong obsession with elegance and order.
Many secular scientists are caught using fabricated data or cherry-picking data to fit a predetermined result or hypothesis. An epidemic in science?
This isn’t the first time that fabricated data has used to produce expected results. Many secular scientists are caught using fabricated data or cherry-picking data to fit a predetermined result or hypothesis. Even as far back as 2011 the journal Nature sounded an alarm that over 300 papers a year had to be retracted.2 However, due to the perceived success of the research many papers are never questioned and their authors are heralded as scientific heroes—particularly when they are seen to firmly substantiate evolution theory. This is what happened in Stapel’s case. His made-up data fit what evolutionists would expect. That is, to show supposed proof of microbes-to-man evolution. Thus, most simply take this research as fact.
Since Stapel’s work was well-established, students and colleagues were afraid of the repercussions and their own careers if they ‘blew the whistle’. This ‘fear factor’ causes most to stay quiet about suspected fraudulent results or even questioning long-standing theories. As such, the incidence of academic fraud is probably much higher than actually being reported—even though the levels are alarmingly high.
In addition, because Dr Stapel was a well-established member of the scientific community, no one bothered to attempt to replicate the results of his experiments. In this case, since this was a psychological experiment, much of the data could have been replicated with more experimentation, if anyone had actually bothered to do so.
Why?
Along with fame and tenure, if someone can gain money for research that is genuinely important in the eyes of the researcher, then that may seem to justify a little dishonesty for a higher goal. In short, the end justifies the means.
The admission that fraudulent results, academic cheating and tweaking results is a common practice should shed some light on the integrity of those promoting evolutionary theory with such gusto and vigor. There are many examples of supposed evidences that have proven evolution to be true that ended up being blatantly false or completely disproven. We’ve covered many examples of this such as Ernst Haeckel, the Peppered Moth and Piltdown Man just to name a few. Even though they have long been disproved, they were instrumental in making people believe evolution. Even when the hoaxes are exposed, people don’t renounce their belief in evolution that these icons inspired.
The admission that fraudulent results, academic cheating and tweaking results is a common practice2 should shed some light on the integrity of those promoting evolutionary theory with such gusto and vigor. If they’ve lied, why should one trust anything they say? Following evolutionary theory to its logical conclusion, there is no objective basis for morality. Therefore, in a ‘dog eat dog’ world, what’s wrong with fabrication and lying to get ahead?
This also means that as Christians, we don’t need to be overly worried when a study claims to give evidence against the Bible’s historical record. Scientific findings are often revised or retracted entirely; the majority of what scientists used to be sure about has been absolutely proved to be wrong. So why believe what they are sure of today? Rather, we should stand firm in God’s Word.
the perp Diederik Stapel
"That spring, he published a widely publicized study in Science about an experiment done at the Utrecht train station showing that a trash-filled environment tended to bring out racist tendencies in individuals. And just days earlier, he received more media attention for a study indicating that eating meat made people selfish and less social."
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/28/magazine/diederik-stapels-audacious-academic-fraud.html?pagewanted%253Dall&_r=0
The guy is a lying leftie evolutionist.
I disagree. I say the guy is a lying leftie Revolutionist.
Evolution is just a tool to him and if it were not evolution it would be anything else he could use to advance the agenda of the radical left.
It’s harder to fudge figures in my favorites: Mathematics, and physics. Everything but God flows through them.
Of course, what the article also demonstrates is that scientific fraud gets caught by the scientific community. It’s self-correcting.
That’s a good thing, don’t you think?
Scientist - a person who fabricates evidence to support the prevailing Progressive political positions of the day.
It sure seems to take a long time to self-correct. And yes, it’s a good thing when that actually happens.
If the same were true about a creationist scientist/psychologist/whatever, I doubt if evolutiuonists would say "That person is not a creationist but a revolutiononist," don't you think?
They are exactly like global warmist in that anything that happens gets twisted to prove their literal interpretation of Genesis is correct.
You are making a false assumption and infer dishonesty. You are assuming that creation scientist and global warmists - and I will include evolutionist scientists - “twist” data to “prove” their interpretation. Honest scientists of both beliefs first use a basis of interpreting the data and come to conclusions whether or not the conclusion fits their basis of belief. If it cannot be falsified, honest scientists will admit inconclusiveness - that a conclusion cannot become a law but must stay a theory or even hypothesis. True science is repeatable and falsifiable. Anything else is always open to interpretation.
And I will say this much, creation scientists seem to be much more honest about their findings than many evolutionist scientists. I have yet to see a creationists scientist be busted for fraud and a criminal offenses as compared to the many evolutionists scientists busted .
Because nobody pays any attention to them. Yes, I thing this article is dishonest. Elevating themselves by contrasting the dishonesty of "others".
Yep.
I’ve been called into a university dean’s office to testify about a prof on academic dishonesty.
bkmk
Yeppers, just like the Tea Party - they don't get criminally charged for scientific fraud, but I'm sure that they do get audited. After all, just like the Tea Party, they are conservative.
“Science in the modern world has many uses — its chief use, however, is to provide long words with which to cover up the errors of the rich.”
G.K. Chesterton
As far as I can tell from reading about him, his work has nothing to do with evolution.
Second, creation scientists have also been caught “using fabricated data or cherry-picking data to fit a predetermined result or hypothesis.” It’s kind of a human trait. (Creation scientists are, of course, absolutely committed to their predetermined hypothesis. But we don’t have to go there now.)
Third, “the majority of what scientists used to be sure about has been absolutely proved to be wrong” is a lie. And you wonder why people call creationists “anti-science”!
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