Abstract
In this chapter, an account is given of the methodological choices and procedures that enabled the author to conduct empirical research on research misconduct. A research design mainly centred on qualitative methods was chosen, in contrast to most of the existing current studies using quantitative methodologies. An account of specificities to take into consideration when conducting qualitative studies is given, as well as descriptions of the research design, sampling procedures, and analyses conducted in the study. The challenges encountered when researching one’s own peers and working environment are also described, as well as the solutions found for overcoming such challenges.
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Notes
- 1.
While a minority of interviewees raised concerns about scholars committing sexual harassment, this misbehaviour has not been acknowledged as a form of RM by the literature. Nonetheless, and in view of the shifting nature of RM, more recently some voices have asked for sexual harassment to be included in the list of situations labelled as RM (Kuo 2017).
- 2.
In 2014, the President of the European Commission (EC) in office stated that ‘The European Union remains the largest knowledge factory in the world: it accounts for almost a third of global science and technology production. And despite the crisis, Europe and its Member States have managed to maintain this competitive knowledge position.’ The report ‘The future of Europe is science: a report of the president’s Science and Technology Advisory Council (STAC)’ is available online at the EC website.
- 3.
This designation is largely influenced by the concept of ‘the looking glass self’ by Cooley, one of the most important authors from the school of thought of symbolic interactionism. I wish to thank Olga Petintseva for her time discussing these issues with me and which encouraged me to use such designation.
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Faria, R. (2018). Good Luck with the Research That Will End Your Career. In: Research Misconduct as White-Collar Crime. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73435-4_3
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