Lies, Damn Lies, and Academia

The irony is strong in academia.

Because you don't have to be honest to be a researcher in Behavioral Science studying Honesty. Harvard Scholar Who Studies Honesty Is Accused of Fabricating Findings

"Trust the Science." That is the mantra of the authoritarians, but "Science" isn't what people think it is. It is a human endeavor, subject to all of the problems of human endeavors.

Francesca Gino of Harvard Business School has been the author, or coauthor, of dozens of papers in various scholarly journals. Now a lot of people, including her partners on some of those papers, are reviewing everything for signs of fraud, because a fair amount of questionable methods have come to light.

But in recent days, the field may have sustained its most serious blow yet: accusations that a prominent behavioral scientist fabricated results in multiple studies, including at least one purporting to show how to elicit honest behavior.

The hat tip goes to Pixy Misa - Daily News Stuff 24-25 June 2023: Just People Doing People Things Edition.

Behavioural scientists behaving badly: The work of a top researcher at Harvard Business School has come into question after accusations that she is - and I quote* - just making shit up. (New York Times)

This is particularly striking because her area of expertise - such as it is - is honesty.

Only half of published [medical] research holds up when other researchers try to reproduce the results, and for psychology the number is closer to one third. (The Atlantic)