Science Fraud

PART 2

Diederik Stapel, a prominent Dutch social psychologist

Diederik Stapel, a prominent Dutch social psychologist, until the summer 2011

1 How one man got away with mass fraud by saying ‘trust me, it’s science’


When news broke this year that Diederik Stapel, a prominent Dutch social psychologist, was faking his results on dozens of experiments, the fallout was swift, brutal and global.

Science and Nature, the world’s top chroniclers of science, were forced to retract papers that had received wide popular attention, including one that seemed to link messiness with racism, because “disordered contexts (such as litter or a broken-up sidewalk and an abandoned bicycle) indeed promote stereotyping and discrimination.”

As a result, some of Prof. Stapel’s junior colleagues lost their entire publication output; Tilburg University launched a criminal fraud case; Prof. Stapel himself returned his PhD and sought mental health care; and the entire field of social psychology — in which human behaviour is statistically analyzed — fell under a pall of suspicion.

One of the great unanswered questions about the Stapel affair, however, is how he got away with such blatant number-fudging, especially in a discipline that claims to be chock full of intellectual safe-guards, from peer review to replication by competitive colleagues. How can proper science go so wrong?

The answer, according to a growing number of statistical skeptics, is that without release of raw data and methodology, this kind of research amounts to little more than “‘trust me’ science,” in which intentional fraud and unintentional bias remain hidden behind the numbers. Only the illusion of significance remains.

Trust me, I'am a scientist!

Con: Persuade (someone) to believe something by lying to them

Diederik Alexander Stapel is een voormalig Tilburgs hoogleraar sociale psychologie, die bekend werd als wetenschapsfraudeur

Diederik Alexander Stapel is a former Tilburg professor of social psychology who became known as a science fraudster.

Three categories of scientific misconduct: Fabrication, Falsification, Questionable research practices

Definition Fraud, cheating in research, or research misconduct, which is the official term, is often defined as fabrication, falsification and plagiarism.

2 Fraud and plagiarism


It may be tempting to dress up in borrowed plumage (plagiarise/refrain from referring to one’s sources), cook data (falsify data) or simply invent (fabricate) data, and disregard the fact that this violates fundamental and internationally accepted rules for good research practice.

Scientific misconduct is defined as falsification, fabrication, plagiarism and other serious breaches of good research practice that have been committed wilfully or through gross negligence when planning, carrying out or reporting on research (italics added).

The Norwegian National Research Ethics Committees

Diederik Stapel was a Dutch social psychologist who became infamous for academic fraud. Here are some key points about him:

  1. Stapel was born on October 19, 1966, in the Netherlands. He earned a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Amsterdam in 1997 and went on to become a professor at several universities in the Netherlands.

  2. In 2011, Stapel was exposed for fabricating data in his research. He had been conducting experiments on topics such as stereotypes, prejudice, and social influence, but it was later discovered that he had made up much of the data to support his hypotheses.

  3. Stapel’s fraud was uncovered after an investigation by Tilburg University, where he was a professor at the time. The investigation found that he had fabricated data in at least 55 of his published papers.

  4. Stapel’s fraud was considered particularly egregious because he had manipulated data in such a way that it supported his preconceived ideas. He had also falsified data in multiple experiments to produce consistent results, further deceiving the scientific community.

  5. After his fraud was exposed, Stapel resigned from his position at Tilburg University and was banned from conducting research or teaching in the Netherlands. He also faced legal consequences, including a fine and community service.

  6. Stapel’s case drew attention to the issue of academic fraud and the pressures faced by researchers to produce positive results. It also sparked a broader discussion about the need for more transparency and reproducibility in scientific research.

  7. Stapel has since written a book about his experiences, titled “Ontsporing” (“Derailment” in English), in which he reflects on his motivations and the societal factors that contributed to his fraud.

1 Car Paint Job Surprise

31 mrt. 2011

 

Pedestrians are pranked into looking like they just ruined a car paint job! A presentation of the Just For Laughs Gags. The funny hidden camera pranks show for the whole family. Juste pour rire les gags, l’émission de caméra caché la plus comique de la télé!