Fraud and Fallible Judgement: Deception in the Social and Behavioural Sciences

Fraud and Fallible Judgment is both an exploration of fraud and an examination of the nature of truth in social relations and experience. The essays in this volume are concerned with deception in the social and behavioral sciences, and conditions that elicit deceptive behavior among scientists, whatever their discipline. The issue of fraud in the social sciences moves far beyond a simple dictionary definition of duplicity. Errors in experimentation are less definite and less concrete than they are in the physical sciences. Fraud in the social sciences ranges from simple plagiarism of data and ideas to quiet suppression of information.
The essays in Fraud and Fallible Judgment raise issues of professional judgment from self-policing to scientific policy. Episodes of misconduct in research, once resolved within the academic or scientific community, are now commanding media attention on an unprecedented scale. One net effect over the long term may prove to be that public confidence in the research enterprise has been irretrievably weakened (likewise, perhaps, public willingness to invest tax dollars in the support of that enterprise). Allegations of fraud can also be used to destroy careers. Once maligned, a reputation may never be repaired.
The very event of writing on the subject with candor and intelligence is itself an event of rare courage. Contributions to this volume include: David Goodstein, "The Fading Myth of the Noble Scientist"; J. Philippe Rushton, "Cyril Burt as the Victim of Scientific Hoax"; Del Thiessen and Robert Young, "Investigating Sexual Coercion"; and Richard Ofshe and Ethan Watters, "Making Monsters." This volume is an ideal text for students and scientists in all areas of the social and behavioral sciences, particularly psychologists and sociologists.