A criminologist conducts a study on the effectiveness of a new violent offender rehabilitation program at the request of the program developer, a for-profit company. She determines that the program is largely ineffective. A few weeks later, she reads in the paper that the state prison authorities have adopted this program because it "has been evaluated by a competent criminologist and has been found to be effective." The potential ethical violation here is:

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The potential ethical violation in this scenario is sponsorship bias or suppression, where the research findings are suppressed or misrepresented because of the financial or other interests of the sponsor. In this case, the for-profit company that developed the program may have influenced the presentation of the research findings to make the program appear more effective than it actually is. This can lead to misinformed decision-making by prison authorities and can compromise the welfare of the offenders who undergo the program. The criminologist has an ethical responsibility to report their findings truthfully and transparently, without being influenced by external interests.

A Criminologist Conducts a Study on the Effectiveness of a New