THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING

A Lie or Just "a Way of Speaking?"

Author(s): Caroline Whitbeck, Ph.D.

You and Conscientious, your first-year graduate student research assistant, are preparing a paper describing your research. The abstract for this paper was accepted for the Major Conference that is to happen next week. Reading over the paper, Conscientious points out that you have described a certain data set as "a typical data set" and says, somewhat hesitantly, "I thought that was our best data set." You tell Conscientious that calling the data set a typical data set is just a way of speaking, but Conscientious looks at you with doubt and consternation.

What do you say or do now?

• Return to Research Ethics Module Supporting Pages

• Questions on the Supervisor-Trainee Relationship

• Suggested Approaches to Resolving Ethical Problems in Research with Mentally Ill Patients as Subjects

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