How might a sponsor attempt to illegitimately influence a researcher? What can the researcher do about it and why might a researcher hesitate about being ethical?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The Answer is A sponsor may attempt to illegitimately influence a researcher by: (1)telling the researcher,directly or indirectly,what results the researcher should come up with before the study is undertaken;(2)telling the researcher to suppress scientific information that contradicts official policy or embarrasses high officials;(3)placing unreasonable limitations on research (e.g.,withholding funding necessary to uphold generally accepted standards of research,demanding a biased sample or leading research questions,etc.);(4)telling the researcher not to reveal to participants information about who is funding the study.
For (1),a researcher should refuse to participate if she or he is told to arrive at specific results as a precondition for doing research.Legitimate research is conducted without restrictions on the possible findings that the study might yield.For (2),a researcher should negotiate conditions for releasing the findings prior to beginning the study and sign a contract to that effect.It may be unwise to conduct the study without such a guarantee,although competing researchers who have fewer ethical scruples may do so.Alternatively,a researcher can accept the sponsor’s criticism and hostility and release the findings over the sponsor’s objections.For (3),a researcher should refuse to continue a study if he or she cannot uphold generally accepted standards of research.For (4),in general,an ethical researcher will tell the subjects who is sponsoring the study unless there is a strong methodological reason for not doing so.When reporting or publishing results,the ethical mandate is very clear: A researcher must always reveal the sponsor who provides funds for a study.

How Might a Sponsor Attempt to Illegitimately Influence a Researcher