On Wed, April 23, 2014 11:31 am, Carl Turney wrote:
True, there are scientists employed by firms to provide company-friendly data. But (except for job-desperate scientists working in short-lived fly-by-night firms) they also provide cautionary info to management, and research safer & more effective products and/or processes -- to gain a competitive advantage and to protect long-term from litigation.
Scientific fraud, often with corporate motivations, is quite notable. e.g., http://retractionwatch.com/ However, the important thing to note it is through the open community of debate and research that these are uncovered.
And there is the occasional zealot who believes so strongly in his/her theory that s/he fudges the data and/or analysis. (e.g. Mendel and inherited traits.) I'm seeing this constantly in the Alternative Healthcare field.
I suspect you're thinking of Lysenko, not Mendel. Cyril Burt is an interesting example. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyril_Burt#.22The_Burt_Affair.22 -- Lev Lafayette, BA (Hons), GradCertTerAdEd (Murdoch), GradCertPM, MBA (Tech Mngmnt) (Chifley) mobile: 0432 255 208 RFC 1855 Netiquette Guidelines http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1855.txt