Exposure=Misconduct: Differential Association and the Prevalence of Research Misconduct

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

This pilot research will develop a web-based survey on questionable research practices and test it on faculty and students at two universities. Besides providing a preliminary test and assessment of this web-based technique, the pilot begins to examine the role of differential association in the diffusion of research misconduct and other questionable research practices. The pilot project design allows the investigators to address core methodological issues regarding the web-based survey and the randomized response technique with skip patterns, as well as the core substantive issue regarding differential association (contagion). The pilot sample size will allow a peer-reviewed publication on the methodological issues: web-based survey or randomized response technique. On the substantive issue, the sample size may allow pilot analyses, depending on exposure rates, although generalizability will be limited. If the pilot is successful, it would provide the basis for a full-scale project to test the role of differential association in research misconduct and other questionable practices, as well as roles of ethical climate and neutralization in moderating its effects.