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Fabrication, Falsification, and the Sanctity of Data
Prof. William UllmanCollege of Marine and Earth Studies
University of Delaware, Lewes
13 March 2008 1RAISE Fabrication and Falsification
13 March 2008 RAISE Fabrication and Falsification 2
Federal Policy on Research Misconduct*
Research misconduct is defined as fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism in proposing, performing, or reviewing research, or in reporting research results.
* US Office of Science and Technology Policy. <www.ostp.gov/html/001207_3.html>
13 March 2008 RAISE Fabrication and Falsification 3
Fabrication
•Fabrication is the description of experiments not actually performed, the invention of data not actually collected, and/or the reporting of these experiments and results.
13 March 2008 RAISE Fabrication and Falsification 4
Falsification (Cooking and Trimming)
•Falsification is manipulating research materials, equipment, or processes, or changing or omitting data or results such that the research is not accurately represented in the research record.
•Cooking is retaining and reporting only the data that fits the theory and discarding others.
•Trimming is the smoothing of irregularities to make the data look more accurate and precise than they really are.
13 March 2008 RAISE Fabrication and Falsification 5
Colleagues/readers are entitled to:
Honor and Integrity in Science
• See all of the necessary data;• Know how the data was
collected;• Know the limits of the methods;
and • Make their own judgments
based on your data!
Nullius in Verba!
Deborah’s and Kathleen’s Data:A Case Study*
• Deborah (graduate student) and Kathleen (post doc) make expensive measurements at a national laboratory to verify a newly proposed theory. When they complete the experiment and return to their own lab, they review their data and compare it with the new theory.
13 March 2008 RAISE Fabrication and Falsification 6
*From: On Being a Scientist: Responsible Conduct in Research, 2nd Edition. National Academy Press, 1995
Deborah's and Kathleen's Data
Beam Intensity0 2 4 6 8
Response
0
1
2
3
4
13 March 2008 RAISE Fabrication and Falsification 7
Prediction fromTheory
Deborah’s and Kathleen’s Data:A Case Study*
• During the experiments at the national laboratory, they observed unpredictable, uncontrollable, and unexplained fluctuations in the responses for two data points that fell the furthest from the theoretical prediction. They also found out that another research group, pursuing similar experiments, had independently verified the proposed theory.
13 March 2008 RAISE Fabrication and Falsification 8
Deborah’s and Kathleen’s Data:A Case Study*
• Kathleen suggests that, due to the observed fluctuations, these points be omitted from the statistical analysis, but, of course, be reported in the paper to be published from this experiment. In the text they will say that these points reflect anomalies associated with power fluctuations and are outside of the uncertainty associated with all of the points.
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Deborah’s and Kathleen’s Data:A Case Study*
• How should the data from the two points be handled?
• Should the data be included in the statistical tests?
• Who can they go to for advice?• Is this paper ready to be written?
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Deborah’s and Kathleen’s Data:A Case Study*
• Are there problems with Deborah’s and Kathleen’s approach to their data?
• How would you examine this data?• What is a datum?• Is there something
called “self-deception?”
13 March 2008 RAISE Fabrication and Falsification 11
Deborah's and Kathleen's Data
Beam Intensity0 2 4 6 8
Response
0
1
2
3
4
Deborah's and Kathleen's Data
Beam Intensity0 2 4 6 8
Response
0
1
2
3
4
13 March 2008 RAISE Fabrication and Falsification 12
Deborah's and Kathleen's Data
Beam Intensity0 2 4 6 8
Response
0
1
2
3
4
13 March 2008 RAISE Fabrication and Falsification 13
Deborah's and Kathleen's Data
Beam Intensity0 2 4 6 8
Response
0
1
2
3
4
13 March 2008 RAISE Fabrication and Falsification 14
Deborah's and Kathleen's Data
Beam Intensity0 2 4 6 8
Response
0
1
2
3
4
13 March 2008 RAISE Fabrication and Falsification 15
Deborah's and Kathleen's Data
Beam Intensity0 2 4 6 8
Response
0
1
2
3
4
13 March 2008 RAISE Fabrication and Falsification 16
13 March 2008 RAISE Fabrication and Falsification 17Fabricate experiment
& data
Cooking
Trimming
Report all as measured
with uncertainty
Report all as measured
without uncertainty
Eliminate on deviation
from expectations
Eliminate on a
posteriori analysis
Eliminate experimental
anomalies
