Never Waste a Good Crisis – Lessons Learned from Data Fraud and Questionable Research Practices

This book covers statistical consequences of breaches of research integrity such as fabrication and falsification of data, and researcher glitches summarized as questionable research practices.It is unique in that it discusses how unwarranted data manipulation harms research results and that questionable research practices are often caused by researchers’ inadequate mastery of the statistical methods and procedures they use for their data analysis.The author’s solution to prevent problems concerning the trustworthiness of research results, no matter how they originated, is to publish data in publicly available repositories and encourage researchers not trained as statisticians not to overestimate their statistical skills and resort to professional support from statisticians or methodologists. The author discusses some of his experiences concerning mutual trust, fear of repercussions, and the bystander effect as conditions limiting revelation of colleagues’ possible integrity breaches.H