Students Say They Faked Peterson Survey

[kskiska]

MODESTO, Calif. (AP) - A survey a judge cited in his decision to move Scott Peterson's capital murder trial out of Modesto contained made-up information, criminal justice students who conducted the survey told a newspaper.

The 10-county survey suggested that more jurors without bias could be found in the San Francisco Bay area or Southern California than in Stanislaus County, which includes Modesto, home town of Peterson's slain wife, Laci.

But several of the California State University, Stanislaus students who compiled the report told The Modesto Bee they used a lot of fake information because it had been too hard to gather all the data properly. The students requested anonymity, the paper said.

(snip)

Not all students said they'd faked their results, which accounted for 20 percent of their grade. But six students - all seniors - told the paper they had made up all of their answers because they had no time and no money for the dozens of lengthy long-distance phone calls that were required.

more…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3607921,00.html

[bicentennial_baby]

1. Real Ethical Criminal Justice students

Jeebus...

[Mikimouse]

2. Translation- give me an A, I did what I was supposed to do..

I registered for the course, and I are a gradiatin' senor. not my ass on the line...gimme, gimme, gimme my A!

[PartyPooper]

3. I wonder what the judge will have to say when he hears this.

Maybe some of these students should head for Hollywood after graduation instead of seeking careers at solving crime?

:dunce:

[LiberalFighter]

9. Why the hell was the judge using a "survey" for a grade?

[Lisa]

10. quite normal in college-level courses ...

In the past, students have complained that traditional textbook-based work is not very good preparation for real-life work situations. Increasingly, instructors have arranged for a "practicum", where students complete a project as part of an ongoing research study, or for a particular client (such as a citizens' group that couldn't afford to hire a professional research firm).

This way, the students can get some real-world experience -- and their research gets used, rather than sitting on a shelf in some prof's office.

I've found that students tend to work a lot harder and turn out much better assignments if they feel that their papers are appreciated (and read by potential employers!). The only explanation I can offer for what happened here is that a) the instructor didn't walk them through some research pitfalls and explain the serious consequences of academic dishonesty beforehand, and b) they may have had inadequate supervision during the study. Some of the students evidently felt they didn't have enough time and resources.

[NashVegas]

11. Sounds Like They Need Occupational Training Schools, Not College

In the past, students have complained that traditional textbook-based work is not very good preparation for real-life work situations.

Call it the never-ending cycle. When the majority started going to college to train for jobs, as opposed to get an education, is about the time the 4 year degree became the equivalent of the high school diploma.

[Lisa]

12. well, like it or not, most college administrators feel this way too ...

Lots of people in my department have commented that they are under pressure from higher up to "make your courses more relevant".

One way faculty can do this is to introduce students to their own research programmes. One lab group I know has formed a partnership with an environmental organization (Earthwatch), where members contribute funding and research volunteers. Of course, the problem with this (and with forming corporate partnerships, as people I know in the sciences are increasingly obliged to do) is that there can be subtle and direct pressure to only research certain things -- and come up with certain results!

In my case, I teach a "history of science" course, so people who think reading historical accounts is boring pretty much have to like it or leave it! I hope that the research and analytical skills I try to pass on to them are going to be of some help in their own lives, as well as in understanding the course material -- last week, for example, we did "how graphs and figures can misrepresent data", with the 2000 election as an example.

I'm always trying to argue that bad research isn't just an abstract problem, but has real-life implications. So I'm grateful for this thread, for giving me yet another example for class!

And as you point out, Crisco, some students have fallen into the "training" trap -- there's one guy in the class who makes a point of walking out whenever he thinks the material isn't going to be useful for him. I can't throw him out because the dept chair says he needs the course to graduate, and if he doesn't get it, he's just going to do the same thing in someone else's class! (At least he sits by the door so he doesn't disrupt the others when he slips out.) Anyway, it might take awhile for the other shoe to drop on this one, but the last time I had a student like that, he ended up doing a highly-specialized graduate degree (he was arrogant but he did have some smarts) -- and he got hired at another university to teach the very same course that I taught him!

Bahahaha! I waited until he was freaking out at the prospect of the workload, then quietly said, "I hope you kept your notes from Geog 374."

[punpirate]

4. A careful search of Free Republic...

... will likely reveal the real reasons for these students' lapses in academic rigor. They've probably been bragging there.

[Jackpine Radical]

5. How much you wanna bet

that the RNC recruits them en masse?

[NashVegas]

6. They Don't Deserve Anonymity

They deserve to have their asses booted and transcripts marked.

Behold the future opinion makers of America.

[GoBlue]

7. Hey, cut these patriotic kids some slack.

I mean afterall, are they not just following the lead of the wonderful Precedent we have in DC. Afterall, if you can fake evidence to justify a war on Iraq, why wouldn't you fake evidence to justify whatever the hell you feel justified in faking.

GOP bless America

[nibbana]

8. Sex or Life & Death

If they lied about a sex survey we could blame it on Clinton...But since they lied about matters of life and death they must being modeling their ethics after Bush...