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September 12, 2012
Mark Regnerus Cleared Of Misconduct in Research Involving Gay Parents
UT Austin will stop investigating associate professor.
(Editor's note: This post has been updated to reflect the findings of a forthcoming audit of the Social Science Research peer-review process.)
The University of Texas at Austin has concluded its investigation of Mark Regnerus and declared the associate professor of sociology not guilty of research misconduct during his controversial study of children whose parents had same-sex relationships.
UT Austin research integrity officer Robert A. Peterson investigated eight charges against Regnerus made by freelance writer Scott Rosensweig (who writes under the byline Scott Rose) and found that "none of the allegations ... were substantiated."
"In brief, Mr. Rose believed that the Regnerus research was seriously flawed and inferred that there must be scientific misconduct," wrote Peterson. "However, there is no evidence to support that inference."
From the university's perspective, the matter is now closed. Peterson explained that whether Regnerus's research conclusions are limited or flawed "should be left to debates that are currently underway in the academy and future research that validates or invalidates his findings."
The study in question, titled "How different are the adult children of parents who have same-sex relationships?" collected data from nearly 3000 adults. It found that "differences exist between children of parents who have had same-sex relationships and those with [heterosexual] married parents."
The study sparked outcry from many advocacy groups and academics. An audit by one editorial board member of Social Science Research, the journal which published Regnerus's study, concluded that the study should have been disqualified during the peer-review process.
Yet an influential group of social scientists--including Michael Emerson, Christian Smith, Rodney Stark, W. Bradford Wilcox, and Bradley Wright--issued a public statement defending Regnerus's study.
“We think that the Regnerus study, which is one of the first to rely on a large, random, and representative sample of children from parents who have experienced same-sex relationships, has helped to inform the ongoing scholarly and public conversation about same-sex families in America,” wrote the group. “"As social scientists, our hope is that more such studies will be forthcoming shortly, and that future journalistic coverage of such studies, and this contentious topic, will be more civil, thorough, and thoughtful than has been the coverage of the new study by Professor Mark Regnerus."
CT recently reported on the politics of science in regards to Regnerus' study. CT also recently interviewed Regnerus on Sex Economics 101 -- his research into the sexual attitudes and behavior of young adults -- and published a cover story on his provocative argument for early marriage. He also participated in a Village Green panel on how best to encourage premarital abstinence.
Comments
Nah, it looks more like a garden variety attempt to create a false impression that the research has been vindicated when it hasn't. That's all it is.
Posted By: Boo | September 12, 2012 12:13 PM
I'm very glad they have published this. But Regnerus and the investigators will not ever win this argument. Proper and careful research in the area of gay dynamics will never _ever_ win over activist ideology, period. "My mind is made up...don't confuse me with the facts."
Posted By: Elmo Finster | September 12, 2012 4:19 PM
Well... the detractors have been flitting around for three months now, mostly powered by feelings. They sort of remind me of moths flying like crazy around a burning light bulb. Yet the large data set, to be released this fall, and represented by the light bulb, could very well burn them badly. But hey... truth be known. A question is, will they be responsive to statistical truth in a reasonable way, or will they clamor like Ephesians over the loss of their Artemis?
My guess is that since homosexualism has an out-of-phase spiritual component, that is, that it runs directly counter to Scripture... that real life statistics won't make much of a dent with the afflicted, at least for a while. Gambling addicts know that form of endeavor isn't good for them, yet they persist. And how easy is it for a porn addict to just walk away from it.
But Jesus has the walking papers, doesn't He?
Posted By: turnright | September 12, 2012 10:57 PM
Turnright- the problem wasn't in the data gathering, the problem was the way he tweaked the groups to make a bogus comparison. If you actually bother to read it, the study doesn't compare kids raised by gay couples to kids raised by straight couples.
My guess is that you don't actually care about that inconvenient fact because Regnerus is saying something you want to hear.
Posted By: Boo | September 13, 2012 9:30 PM
Everyone of those "social scientists" are crazy Christian fundamentalists. Can you bring in the normal scientists view on this "research??" Cause it doesn't sound anything like that.
Posted By: Boo who | November 9, 2012 5:22 PM
This is a subject that parents should teach their kid about Gay life style. I was taught about this from my Mother and this is something I wouldn't allow to be taught to my kids in school.
The parents rights are being taken away every time the government votes.
The UN has no right to any part of our education system or our government. The UN should be kicked out of our Country and We should stop funding the UN.
Posted By: Nellie CA | November 28, 2012 6:49 PM
Small wrench in a wheel. Even if further studies confirm these results, I have this, very not hypothetical question. I think there is no question that there are more kids in the need of adoption than there are parents willing to adopt. That said, what do you think is more humane & godly, to let a child be adopted by a gay family or stay in a Russian foster home (i am from former USSR) where there are very likely to be introduced to drugs, be rented for sex to cops/politicians (documented cases..), raped & abused by staff, etc?
Posted By: sergei k | February 28, 2013 7:54 AM
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