Most of us think science, its methods and results, are clear-cut and, most important, true. If scientists don’t agree, if their research or theories conflict, then we assume more study is called for. Or we assume that someone is being paid off to produce certain results.
A graduate student in animal husbandry once told me that her professor taught them about the “fudge factor” in experimental data. That is, if you don’t get exactly the results you want, it’s widely accepted that the data will be tweaked. The professor didn’t teach them to never do this. Quite the reverse. She had no objections herself. Her non-student career included stints of prostitution, so ethics wasn’t her strong suit. Certainly not all scientists are so indifferent to the truth, but there was at least one academic who called lying “the fudge factor” and turned it into a cute little foible.

See the full article from “Examiner.com”