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Why Scientific Integrity Matters

Viewpoint Diversity
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When the field of social sciences is dominated by a single political viewpoint the reliability of social science research becomes suspect. Since this research often influences legal decisions, public policy initiatives and legislative processes this lack of viewpoint diversity endangers balanced and responsible decision making in our homes, schools and community. 
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Want to know more about viewpoint diversity and how vital it is to family and public decision making?
Here are some web sites and organizations well worth checking out:
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The Unskewed Project  (click here) -
is an initiative aimed at providing scholars, policy makers, and the general public with accurate, research-based information on families and social issues within the global society. Particular attention is given to correcting inaccurate or poorly conducted research findings that are propagated in general media sources and public policy reports. The primary aim of the Unskewed Project is to counterbalance the widely-acknowledged problems of bias and lack of viewpoint diversity in the social sciences and popular media outlets reporting on family-related studies.
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Hetrodox Academy  (click here) -
A politically diverse group of more than 1,800 professors and graduate students who have come together to improve the quality of research and education in universities by increasing viewpoint diversity, mutual understanding and constructive disagreement.
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ASSOCIATED ARTICLES
 
Gays, Bias and Phony Science - The New York Post  CLICK HERE
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Political Diversity Will Improve Social Psychological Science  CLICK HERE

The major mental health associations and most universities cannot be relied upon to provide balanced information on sexual orientation, particularly in arenas where advocacy interests are high.

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  • The American Psychological Association’s seminal (2009) report,Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation, was developed by a committee consisting almost entirely of lesbian, gay or bisexually identified psychologists and devoid of any professionals that had actual experience providing sexual attraction fluidity exploration in therapy (SAFE-T) or were even sympathetic to the possibility of therapy assisted change. The nominations of several qualified conservative psychologists were all rejected.

  • The director of the APA’s Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Concerns Office, Clinton Anderson, offered the following defense at the time: “We cannot take into account what are fundamentally negative religious perceptions of homosexuality—they don’t fit into our world view.” (Yarhouse, M. (2009). The battle regarding sexuality. In N. C. Cummings, W. O’Donahue, & J. Cummings, (Eds.),Psychology's War on Religion (pp. 63-93). Phoenix, AZ: Zeig, Tucker & Theisen, Inc.).

  • This exemplifies how resolutions and policy statements created by professional mental health associations may lack genuine objectivity when they are written by specific groups of scholars highly invested in specific advocacy goals.

  • In 2011 the APA’s leadership body voted 157-to-0 in favor of a resolution supporting marriage equality—a time when the United States population was evenly divided on the issue. (Jayson, S. (2011, August 5). Citing new research, psychology group supports gay marriage.USA Today.)

  • “Political diversity is so absent in mental health circles that most psychologists and social workers live in a bubble.  So seldom does anyone express ideological disagreement with colleagues that they believe all intelligent people think as they do.” (Cummings, N. A. (2005). Preface. In R. H. Wright & N. A. Cummings (Eds.), Destructive Trends in Mental Health.  The Well-Intentioned Path to Harm (pp. xii-xx). New York: Rutledge)

  • In the elections of 2014 and 2016, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) endorsed 339 candidates to federal offices. Without exception these candidates were aligned with the Democrat party.

  • In psychology, 84% of professors identify as liberal, whereas only 8% identify as conservative. This is a ratio of 10.5 to 1. In the United States as a whole, the ratio of liberals to conservatives is roughly 1 to 2. (Duarte, J. L., Crawford, J. T., Stern, S., Haidt, J., Jussim, L., & Tetlock, P. E. (2105). Political diversity will improve psychological science.Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 38 , 1-13.)

  • “To the extent that social scientists operate under one set of assumptions and values, and fail to recognize important alternatives, their scientific conclusions and social-policy recommendations are likely to be tainted” (Chambers, Schlenker, & Collisson, (2012).  Ideology and prejudice: The role of value conflicts.Psychological Science, 24, p. 148).

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