5 ms·

So if he had actually collected data on rape culture among Portland-area dogs, it would have been legitimate research ("One of their papers, about canine rape c

So if he had actually collected data on rape culture among Portland-area dogs, it would have been legitimate research ("One of their papers, about canine rape culture in dog parks in Portland, Ore., was initially recognized for excellence by the journal 'Gender, Place, and Culture', the authors reported")?

claudiawerner 8y ago
If it is relevant data, why shouldn't it be legitimate research? Because you personally think the topic is ridiculous, absurd or not worth consideration? Many ideas seem that way (including very important ones, such as the study of language) so that shouldn't be a reason to dismiss them outright.
- maxlybbert 8y ago
  I thought people were overstating the case that humanities departments across the country are converged. But if investigating whether dogs actually get consent before mating in dog parks (or is there another definition for "rape culture among dogs"?) is considered possibly legitimate research, I may need to revisit my judgement.
asdfasgasdgasdg 8y ago
Probably about as legitimate as the research of obscure computational complexity classes in computer science theory.
bsder 8y ago
> So if he had actually collected data on rape culture among Portland-area dogs, it would have been legitimate research Yes, actually. There is a big difference with publishing a paper with no data a la Sokal vs publishing a paper with made up data. If you are presenting data as true, it must be true. Editors and reviewers don't get to argue with your data--that's a cornerstone of the process. They can argue that you collected the wrong data, interpreted it incorrectly, etc. but the data you collected should be real. If this professor really made up data, he absolutely should get fired. I suspect that he probably didn't falsify data or the administration would simply wipe him out fairly unceremoniously. The fact that they are invoking a review board violation tells me that the case isn't that cut and dried.
argv_empty 8y ago
Seeing some people's apparent fixation on the dog park data fabrication as invalidating the whole effort, I have to wonder whether actually collecting the data for that paper would have made all their other hoax papers "legitimate."

claudiawerner 8y ago

If it is relevant data, why shouldn't it be legitimate research? Because you personally think the topic is ridiculous, absurd or not worth consideration? Many ideas seem that way (including very important ones, such as the study of language) so that shouldn't be a reason to dismiss them outright.

maxlybbert 8y ago
I thought people were overstating the case that humanities departments across the country are converged. But if investigating whether dogs actually get consent before mating in dog parks (or is there another definition for "rape culture among dogs"?) is considered possibly legitimate research, I may need to revisit my judgement.

asdfasgasdgasdg 8y ago

Probably about as legitimate as the research of obscure computational complexity classes in computer science theory.

bsder 8y ago

> So if he had actually collected data on rape culture among Portland-area dogs, it would have been legitimate research Yes, actually. There is a big difference with publishing a paper with no data a la Sokal vs publishing a paper with made up data. If you are presenting data as true, it must be true. Editors and reviewers don't get to argue with your data--that's a cornerstone of the process. They can argue that you collected the wrong data, interpreted it incorrectly, etc. but the data you collected should be real. If this professor really made up data, he absolutely should get fired. I suspect that he probably didn't falsify data or the administration would simply wipe him out fairly unceremoniously. The fact that they are invoking a review board violation tells me that the case isn't that cut and dried.

argv_empty 8y ago

Seeing some people's apparent fixation on the dog park data fabrication as invalidating the whole effort, I have to wonder whether actually collecting the data for that paper would have made all their other hoax papers "legitimate."