Diederik Stapel
Encyclopedia
Diederik Alexander Stapel (born in Oegstgeest
, 19 October 1966) is a former professor
of social psychology
at Tilburg University and before that at the University of Groningen
in the Netherlands. In 2011 Tilburg University suspended Stapel, pending further investigation, for admittedly fabricating and manipulating
data for his research publications
. This scientific misconduct
lasted for years and affected at least 30 publications.
cum laude in psychology
and communications
from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in 1991. In 1997 he obtained his Ph.D.
cum laude in social psychology
from the UvA. He became professor
at the University of Groningen
in 2000 and moved to the University of Tilburg in 2006, where he founded TiBER, the Tilburg Institute for Behavioral Economics Research. In September 2010, Stapel became dean
of the social and behavioral sciences faculty.
Stapel received the "Career Trajectory Award" from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology
in 2009, which has since been retracted. He has returned his Ph.D. title to the University of Amsterdam noting that his "behavior of the past years are inconsistent with the duties associated with the doctorate".
On 31 October 2011, the committee headed by Willem ("Pim") Levelt, entrusted with investigating the fraud published an interim report regarding Stapel's activities at the three Dutch universities where he had worked. The report concluded that Stapel made up data for at least 30 publications. His general method towards the end of his career was to develop a complete experiment at the level of theory, hypotheses, methods, stimuli, questionnaires, and even participants' rewards- and then pretend that he would run the experiments at schools only he had access to. Instead of doing so, he would make up the data and send these to colleagues for further analysis. The report also stated that earlier in his career, going back at least to 2004, he appears to have manipulated data rather than faking them (p. 9). In all cases he acted alone and the report did not find any indication that coauthors
, PhD students, or others were aware or could reasonably have been aware. On page 6-7, the interim report names 19 Ph.D. theses prepared with data delivered by Stapel. Of those, 7 have been cleared. There are various degrees of suspicion about the remaining 12. The report advised that the Ph.D. degrees of the students involved should not be retracted.
The interim report stated that it was not possible to determine whether Stapel fabricated or manipulated data for his 1997 dissertation at the University of Amsterdam, because the data had been destroyed. The university announced that it would investigate whether it would be possible to retract Stapel's Ph.D. because of exceptionally unworthy scientific behavior, but as Stapel returned his degree himself (see above), this issue has become moot.
An extensive report will investigate all of Stapel's 130 articles and 24 book chapters. It is currently not known how long this investigation will take, but fears are that it may take a long time. The University of Tilburg will only reveal which publications are based on faked or manipulated data after the extensive report is complete.
The research result, obtained by Stapel and co-workers Roos Vonk (Radboud University) and Marcel Zeelenberg (Tilburg University), that meat eaters are more selfish than vegetarians
, which was widely published in Dutch media, is suspected to be based on faked data. The research result had not yet been published in a scientific journal, only a press bulletin was released.
The interim report stated that Stapel had caused severe damage to young people at the beginning of their careers.
The University of Tilburg announced that it would pursue criminal prosecution
of Stapel.
Oegstgeest
Oegstgeest is a town and municipality in the province of South Holland in the western Netherlands. Its population was 22,576 in 2008.-Location :...
, 19 October 1966) is a former professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of social psychology
Social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...
at Tilburg University and before that at the University of Groningen
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen , located in the city of Groningen, was founded in 1614. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as well as one of its largest. Since its inception more than 100,000 students have graduated...
in the Netherlands. In 2011 Tilburg University suspended Stapel, pending further investigation, for admittedly fabricating and manipulating
Fabrication (science)
Fabrication, in the context of scientific inquiry and academic research, refers to the act of intentionally falsifying research results, such as reported in a journal article. Fabrication is considered a form of scientific misconduct, and is regarded as highly unethical...
data for his research publications
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
. This scientific misconduct
Scientific misconduct
Scientific misconduct is the violation of the standard codes of scholarly conduct and ethical behavior in professional scientific research. A Lancet review on Handling of Scientific Misconduct in Scandinavian countries provides the following sample definitions: *Danish definition: "Intention or...
lasted for years and affected at least 30 publications.
Career
Stapel obtained an M.A.Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
cum laude in psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
and communications
Communication studies
Communication Studies is an academic field that deals with processes of communication, commonly defined as the sharing of symbols over distances in space and time. Hence, communication studies encompasses a wide range of topics and contexts ranging from face-to-face conversation to speeches to mass...
from the University of Amsterdam (UvA) in 1991. In 1997 he obtained his Ph.D.
Ph.D.
A Ph.D. is a Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree.Ph.D. may also refer to:* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip*PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
cum laude in social psychology
Social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. By this definition, scientific refers to the empirical method of investigation. The terms thoughts, feelings, and behaviors include all...
from the UvA. He became professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
at the University of Groningen
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen , located in the city of Groningen, was founded in 1614. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as well as one of its largest. Since its inception more than 100,000 students have graduated...
in 2000 and moved to the University of Tilburg in 2006, where he founded TiBER, the Tilburg Institute for Behavioral Economics Research. In September 2010, Stapel became dean
Dean (education)
In academic administration, a dean is a person with significant authority over a specific academic unit, or over a specific area of concern, or both...
of the social and behavioral sciences faculty.
Stapel received the "Career Trajectory Award" from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology
Society of Experimental Social Psychology
The Society of Experimental Social Psychology is a scientific professional organization of social psychologists. SESP has over 700 members worldwide.-History:...
in 2009, which has since been retracted. He has returned his Ph.D. title to the University of Amsterdam noting that his "behavior of the past years are inconsistent with the duties associated with the doctorate".
Scientific misconduct
In September 2011, Tilburg University suspended Stapel from his duties, because he was suspected of using faked data for his research publications. The university announced an investigation of his work.On 31 October 2011, the committee headed by Willem ("Pim") Levelt, entrusted with investigating the fraud published an interim report regarding Stapel's activities at the three Dutch universities where he had worked. The report concluded that Stapel made up data for at least 30 publications. His general method towards the end of his career was to develop a complete experiment at the level of theory, hypotheses, methods, stimuli, questionnaires, and even participants' rewards- and then pretend that he would run the experiments at schools only he had access to. Instead of doing so, he would make up the data and send these to colleagues for further analysis. The report also stated that earlier in his career, going back at least to 2004, he appears to have manipulated data rather than faking them (p. 9). In all cases he acted alone and the report did not find any indication that coauthors
Collaborative editing
Collaborative editing is the practice of groups producing works together through individual contributions. Effective choices in group awareness, participation, and coordination are critical to successful collaborative writing outcomes. Most usually it is applied to textual documents or...
, PhD students, or others were aware or could reasonably have been aware. On page 6-7, the interim report names 19 Ph.D. theses prepared with data delivered by Stapel. Of those, 7 have been cleared. There are various degrees of suspicion about the remaining 12. The report advised that the Ph.D. degrees of the students involved should not be retracted.
The interim report stated that it was not possible to determine whether Stapel fabricated or manipulated data for his 1997 dissertation at the University of Amsterdam, because the data had been destroyed. The university announced that it would investigate whether it would be possible to retract Stapel's Ph.D. because of exceptionally unworthy scientific behavior, but as Stapel returned his degree himself (see above), this issue has become moot.
An extensive report will investigate all of Stapel's 130 articles and 24 book chapters. It is currently not known how long this investigation will take, but fears are that it may take a long time. The University of Tilburg will only reveal which publications are based on faked or manipulated data after the extensive report is complete.
The research result, obtained by Stapel and co-workers Roos Vonk (Radboud University) and Marcel Zeelenberg (Tilburg University), that meat eaters are more selfish than vegetarians
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...
, which was widely published in Dutch media, is suspected to be based on faked data. The research result had not yet been published in a scientific journal, only a press bulletin was released.
The interim report stated that Stapel had caused severe damage to young people at the beginning of their careers.
The University of Tilburg announced that it would pursue criminal prosecution
Prosecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
of Stapel.
Reaction by Stapel
Responding to the interim report, Stapel stated:Selected publications
- Stapel, D.A., & Koomen, W. (2001). "I, we, and the effects of others on me: How self-construal moderates social comparison effects". Journal of Personality and Social PsychologyJournal of Personality and Social PsychologyThe Journal of Personality and Social Psychology is a monthly psychology journal of the American Psychological Association. It is considered one of the top journals in the fields of social and personality psychology. Its focus is on empirical research reports; however, specialized theoretical,...
, 80, 766–781. - Stapel, D.A., & Koomen, W. (2001). "When we wonder what it all means: Interpretation goals facilitate accessibility and stereotyping effects". Personality and Social Psychology BulletinPersonality and Social Psychology BulletinPersonality and Social Psychology Bulletin is a scientific journal published by SAGE Publications for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology...
, 8, 915–929. - Stapel, D.A., & Tesser, A. (2001). "Self-activation increases social comparison". Journal of Personality and Social PsychologyJournal of Personality and Social PsychologyThe Journal of Personality and Social Psychology is a monthly psychology journal of the American Psychological Association. It is considered one of the top journals in the fields of social and personality psychology. Its focus is on empirical research reports; however, specialized theoretical,...
, 81, 742–750. - Stapel, D.A., Koomen, W., & Ruijs, K. (2002). "The effects of diffuse and distinct affect". Journal of Personality and Social PsychologyJournal of Personality and Social PsychologyThe Journal of Personality and Social Psychology is a monthly psychology journal of the American Psychological Association. It is considered one of the top journals in the fields of social and personality psychology. Its focus is on empirical research reports; however, specialized theoretical,...
, 83, 60–74. - Stapel, D.A. (2003). "Making sense of hot cognition: Why and when description influences our feelings and judgments". In J.P Forgas, K.D. Williams, and W. von Hippel (Eds.), Social judgments: Implicit and explicit processes (pp. 227–250). New York, NY, USA: Cambridge.
- Stapel, Diederik A., Siegwart Lindenberg (8 April 2011). ttp://www.sciencemag.org/content/332/6026/251 doi 10.1126/science.1201068 "Coping with Chaos: How Disordered Contexts Promote Stereotyping and Discrimination"]. ScienceScience (journal)Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals....
, Vol. 332 no. 6026 pp. 251–253. . Note according to TrouwTrouwTrouw is a Dutch daily newspaper. "Trouw" is a Dutch word meaning "fidelity", "loyalty", or "allegiance", and is cognate with the English adjective "true"...
newspaper, this article is based on faked data.
External links
- Article by Roos Vonk on her website about the "meat research"
- Omroep Brabant
- Interim report by the Levelt commitee that has investigated the fraud, dated 31st Oct. 2011
- http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:qo2U3cGrwQAJ:www.stapel.socialpsychology.nl/cv.pdf+http://www.stapel.socialpsychology.nl/&hl=nl&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESj0bqOqOFsiLAt4RH77sJCntaA1MvDBEa2x9rs3l6xweiVLUh94qvt_w4l97Hs2R9osstSbMFmO5qlbZGeGPOIBWBWI9TG68OLaP0V2ziaRA0ZeJCXFxC75gdaD-g64d16ihn9d&sig=AHIEtbSqJjdRx3H0bHafmP2AgEYApvG-wARésumé Diederik Stapel published on stapel.socialpsychology.nl in 2006]
- List of publications by Stapel
- Article in The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...