Do you believe any of the numbers given during the daily press briefing at the White House? I don’t. I’m skeptical of the reported number of cases of the coronavirus. I believe the Government is deliberately slowing the distribution of test kits (so the numbers stay low to please Trump). And I suspect America will go the way of Italy in terms of the number of cases…and deaths. In that vein, I thought I’d share a related book about the Fake Research in management studies.
Dennis Tourish shows that most research in management studies is crap. By extension, research in the Arts, Sciences, and Medicine fall prey to the same problems Tourish confronts in his enlightening book. In the early chapters, Tourish shows that “classic” studies are flawed and their results suspect. Yet decades of students and researchers cite these studies and use their results to build their own flawed cases and research results.
Tourish also confronts corruption in academic research. Just a week ago a Harvard professor was arrested for “sharing” his research into nanotechnology with Chinese universities (for tons of money, of course). Chinese universities will pay Big Bucks for articles that will appear in top research journals like Science and Nature in order to increase the prestige of their programs. And then there’s plagiarism, dodgy statistics, and cryptic writing.
After exposing the weaknesses of current academic research, Dennis Tourish proposes some possible solutions to get back to doing real research that yield valid results. Yes, just as there’s Fake News, there’s also a lot of Fake Research. It has to be rooted out. We see this Fake Research all the time. Remember when coffee was supposed to bad for you? Now, it’s a healthy drink. It’s the same with claims that foods prevent (or generate) cancer. This is an important book. How trusting are you of Government statistics? GRADE: A
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
List of Tables ix
Acknowledgements x
Introduction: the crisis in management studies; 1
1. Flawed from the get go: the early misadventures of management research; 8
2. How audit damages research and academic freedom; 34
3. ‘When the levee breaks’: academic life on the brink; 60
4. The corruption of academic integrity; 80
5. Paradise lost but not yet regained: retractions and management studies; 106
6. The triumph of nonsense in management studies; 133
7. Flawed theorising, dodgy statistics and (in) authentic leadership theory; 161
8. The promises, problems and paradoxes of evidence based management; 189
9. Reclaiming meaningful research in management studies; 212
10. Putting zest and purpose back into academic life; 234
Notes 252
Index 299
Hell, Kelley, I could have told you that years ago, and I’m just a working/retired guy! It also sounds like you’ve been listening to the fake news peddlers! Do yourself favor and tune them out! Some of my happiest years was when I avoided all news; papers, TV, radio, magazines, or water cooler talk!
I tell you this as a minister and holy man!
Bob, I’ve always been skeptical and this book just documents my beliefs.
What? Trump? Lie?
Dan, yes. Trump and his Administration are vastly undercounting the number of coronavirus victims and deaths.
Working at a university for 25 years, this sort of thing cropped up now and then. Scholars in some fields need money to proceed with their research and they will doctor their results to look like the deserve it, I guess.
Patti, sometimes academic fraud is about the money.
SOMETIME??
Rick, I’m trying to be optimistic.
It’s like we’re all living in a universe created by Samuel Beckett by way of Schrödinger’s cat: “It is midnight. It is raining. It is not midnight. It is not raining.”
As for the statistics (soi-disant) coming from this Administration, I’m totally on-board with the idea that numbers for those infected with Covid and those dying of Covid will be artificially suppressed (by dint of having no effective testing of the living…or the dead), so that we never rise above that 100,000 death benchmark that Trump pulled out of his a** and said if we keep it below that number, it will be a “success”. I find it easier to simply mentally insert the words “it isn’t/it’s not going to be/it never will be/it never was/the truth is the total opposite of whatever comes out of my mouth/this is a complete lie” in front of anything Trump says. Then I feel closer to the truth.
Deb, you are so right! The coronavirus numbers are bogus. A lot of dead bodies found in houses and apartments here are being listed as “death by heart attack” or “death by pneumonia” when in fact they died of Covid-19. The real numbers would freak out the nation!
Obviously you can’t believe Trump or anyone in his administration or anyone who supports him. With very few exceptions that should be extended to all Republicans. I do generally believe the scientists like Fauchi and Birx, but once you get past those two it’s hard to say. And I’ve never had a lot of faith in statistics, although a lot depends on the source.
Michael, I was appalled by Trump’s treatment of Dr. Birx during the weekend Briefing. Trump interrupted her presentation and generally treated her like a minion.
When I was in 7th grade (a looong time ago), the Vietnam War was ongoing. It seemed that when tv news reported the week’s casualties, no matter what the American casualties number was, the Vietcong number was ALWAYS higher. Even to my unexpanded pre-teen mind, that seemed unlikely. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one because another student mentioned it in our Speech class (God knows how we got on the topic). I’ve always remembered what our teacher said: “Figures can’t lie, but liars can figure.” Even 50 years after the fact, that stays with me.
Deb, Bad News is always spun so that the figures are much lower than Reality. That causes Bad Decisions which lead to Bad Behaviors and Disasters.
Without having read the book, I don’t know what examples the author cites. Most people don’t understand or care about the scientific process, so long as the results bolster their particular biases. Studies are rarely definitive, a point that good journalists will note in reporting any particular set of findings. In regard to Trump. the pandemic is the best thing that could ever have happened to him right now, no matter how disastrous to the country. These daily “briefings” give him two hours of free media play to double-down on misinformation, supplement his tweets, incite his base, insult the reporters in attendance, particularly female and minority, and in turn feed the evening news cycle. In the meantime, other damage goes on unnoticed behind the scenes. The Dems (who already doomed their chances in November with protracted, pointless infighting among twenty would-be candidates) might as well be invisible. Putin is laughing his head off.
Fred, Trump’s approval ratings in April 2019 were: Approve 46% Disapproval 51%. Trump’s approval ratings in April 2020–after an Impeachment and a Pandemic–are: Approval 46% Disapproval 51%. Absolutely NO CHANGE!
Zero percent, that’s how much I trust them.
Remember the old “Joe Isuzu” commercials? They were brilliant and they were Trump.
“Hi, I’m Joe Isuzu.” (caption: He’s lying.)
When they cite studies “proving” Trump’s “miracle quinine drug” works, then you see it was 125 people, they don’t mention the people who died, etc. etc. you know it is crap. But Deb’s Kool-Aid drinkers will believe anything Trump says, so there is no point using facts, or logic. Jackie saw this idiot woman protester (Michigan, I think) yesterday, who was all in for the “It’s all a hoax, time to reopen” thing. They asked her about the virus and she basically believes it is a hoax to make Trump look bad, and (her words), “the few people who are sick have that quinine drug.”
I ask you. What hope is there for this country? If even a small percentage of Idiocracy morons go around getting infected, then spread it to their parents or grandparents in the nursing home, it will go through like a California wildfire. And yes, this is 100% on Trump.
Jeff, we had a protest to OPEN UP in downtown Buffalo today. No one wearing masks, no social distancing. Lots of TRUMP 2020 signs and MAGA hats.
I totally agree. I have a cousin who is a trumpanzee and spouts everything he says like gospel. Now he’s one of those claiming the corona virus is less harmful than the flu, and that virus deaths are actually from other causes and reported as virus deaths to make us scared and hurt the IMPOUTUS. There’s a great meme going around, “PEOPLE WHO IN 2016 SAID I’D RATHER DIE THAN VOTE FOR HILLARY — HERE WE ARE” I agree. I wasn’t a fan of Hillary, but I realized she was the ONLY choice for our country. Now, we’re stuck with not only the worst president EVER, but the biggest liar and totally corrupt administration. He’s not only ruining this country, his actions are probably irrevocably harming the planet, and all for money.
Maggie, we’re going to be on a roller-coaster from now until the November Election. So much Fake News, Russian interference, and Trump “briefings” ahead!
Numbers are constantly manipulated.
No one in their right mind would believe the stats that are currently out there.
Beth, Trump and his Administration “believe” those cooked coronavirus numbers. Those Fake Numbers will lead to terrible Decisions!
Fake news, fake research, fake numbers, fake breasts…all of this makes me sad.
Jerry, all this under-reported information about the coronavirus will lead to blunders and debacles.
Of course for some (many ?) scientists the old saying goes too:
We’re only in it for the money!
The good news:
The discussion of Donald here made my day because it showed me that not all “Americans” belong to the deplorables, similar to the situation here in Hungary.
Still I don’t get it:
How can these obvious liars get so many people to believe them?
OK, if a result in science or the economy or whatever enforces your prejudices, then most people will tend to believe it.
A bit OT:
I still remember 60 years ago when my three friends and I were young pupils of the Gymnasium (high school) and would discuss after school or in the evening all kinds of topics in a bar (in Germany you can get a beer if you’re 16 …). We were sure that much of what our teachers (we called them clerical fascists, some really were leftovers from WW2) was nonsense.
Haven’t things changed at all?
Wolf, Trump’s base of voters have stayed with him during events that would have ruined other politicians. And, there’s still a chance Trump could win the November Election.
The book sounds really intersting! Unfortunately, the current system for academic research doesn’t lend itself to producing the best possible research. New professors are told to “publish or perish,” incentivizing large quantities of research over quality. And then academic journals prioritize research with large results where the null hypothesis is disproven, and so research showing contradictory or less extreme results often never gets published. And then researchers are expected to study something novel, which means that people aren’t bothering with replication studies to see if previous finding hold up. As someone who really values research, I find it so disheartening that there aren’t better standards for conducting research. Also, I’m really sorry that I haven’t commented in a while (without discussing the details, I’ve had a really rough year and am still feeling emotionally overwhelmed). Anyway, I’m hoping that you and your family stay safe and healthy, Dr. Kelley!
Lauren, welcome back! We’ve missed you! And, we’re always here for you. At the university level, research rules promotion (and survival). Since the stacks are so high, there’s a lot of gamesmanship, cheating, and “fudging” the rules. Say “hi” to Patrick!