Topic: The Regnerus Affair at UT Austin

[Pandora]

Mark Regnerus, an associate professor of sociology at the University of Texas at Austin, is under attack.

 In the July 2012 issue of Social Science Research, (Vol. 41, Is. 4) he published a peer-reviewed article, “How Different Are the Adult Children of Parents Who Have Same-Sex Relationships?  Findings from the New Family Structures Study.” No doubt had the study eventuated in the finding “no significant differences were found,” Regnerus would have received encouraging nods from the many academics who believe that to be the appropriate answer. But Regnerus’s data revealed “numerous, consistent differences, especially between the children of women who have had a lesbian relationship and those with still-married (heterosexual) biological parents.”

In the view of a good many academics, that’s not an acceptable finding. How many? Well, more than 200 “Ph.D.’s and MD’s” are said to have signed a letter to James Wright, the journal’s editor, questioning “the process by which this paper was submitted, reviewed, and accepted for publication.” The text of the letter is embedded in this blog by Scott Rose, on “The New Civil Rights Movement.”

“Scott Rose” is the blogonym of freelance writer and gay activist Scott Rosenweig. He is the primary instigator of the attack on Regnerus, and appears to devote much of his time to writing screeds against defenders of traditional marriage, a collection of which can be found here. Rosenweig is not a scholar or an expert in Regnerus’s field and his views on Regnerus’s research might occasion little attention except that he has triggered the University of Texas at Austin’s procedure for handling allegation of “scientific misconduct.”

Rosenweig has characterized the University’s response as an “investigation,” but when I used that term in the first version of this post, Gary Susswein, UT’s Director of Media Relations, hastened to explain that:

    In fact, UT has not  launched a formal investigation into Mark Regnerus’ study. Rather, we have launched an inquiry that will determine whether a formal investigation is needed.

Moreover:

     It is standard operating procedure, as laid out in our long-established university policies (http://www.utexas.edu/policies/hoppm/11.B.01.html). Any allegation of scientific misconduct automatically triggers a 60-day inquiry which may or may not lead to an investigation. We have received 28 allegations of scientific misconduct in the past 16 years — each one triggered an inquiry, very few led to a formal investigation.

This is welcome news up to as point. UT has left itself room to climb down, though why it climbed up in the first place is not so clear.   Rosenweig wrote to UT president Bill Powers on June 21 saying that Regnerus’s study was “designed so as to be guaranteed to make gay people look bad, through means plainly fraudulent and defamatory.” Those are pretty claims–though judging by Rosenweig’s comments on this article, he is standing by them.

Regnerus article stands (or falls) on its own merits. All scholarship should be open to scrutiny. But Rosenweig isn’t inviting scrutiny. He is, rather vividly, seeking to use the university’s mechanisms for investigating academic misconduct to silence and stigmatize scholars whose findings he dislikes. To get the full flavor of his attack on Regnerus, read Rosenweig’s gloating account of how the university responded to his complaint by inviting him to campus (from New York) to be interviewed by the Inquiry Panel.

... We get it: Researchers take note. Publish only findings that support the gay agenda. Departures from that rule will be punished up to and including career-ending academic show trials.

The Regnerus case is brand new. We will have to wait to see whether the University of Texas has the backbone to stand up to this campaign. More to come as the story unfolds.

This study CANNOT, of course, be allowed to stand as it will be used to undercut the claims of teh gayz and their advocates that it doesn't matter how the "family" is structured and peopled as long as it is "loving".

[charlesoakwood]

If they found the study valid and supported Regnerus they would
fulfill  Austin's motto of 'Keep Austin weird' by supporting a
contrarian opinion to their world view. 

[Libertas]

Bully the messenger, SSDD, this gay activist can't see past his own extremely biased nose and has about as much ethics as the Chi-Com olympic contingent.  Hopefully this backfires on the militant homosexual.  But it is Austin, so who knows if Regnerus will be treated fairly...

[ToddF]

(Space reserved for leftist piece of garbage who's only science was science preceded by the word POLITICAL to cry and moan about the GOP war on science.)

[IronDioPriest]

Gotta hand it to people like Regnerus who are willing to attack the beast from within its own belly.

[warpmine]

Then of course the fed govt commissions studies and then totally ignores the findings time and again if it doesn't like the results. Have little doubt in your mind that we've BEEN living in a form of police state. If you desire liberty, you best beat that plow shear into a sword and fast.