https://www.npr.org/2023/07/27/1190568472/dan-ariely-francesca-gino-harvard-dishonesty-fabricated-data Accessibility links * Skip to main content * Keyboard shortcuts for audio player * Open Navigation Menu * NPR logo * * Newsletters * * NPR Shop * > Close Navigation Menu * Home * News Expand/collapse submenu for News + National + World + Politics + Business + Health + Science + Climate + Race * Culture Expand/collapse submenu for Culture + Books + Movies + Television + Pop Culture + Food + Art & Design + Performing Arts + Life Kit + Gaming * Music Expand/collapse submenu for Music + Tiny Desk + All Rap Is Local + All Songs Considered + Music Features + Live Sessions * Podcasts & Shows Expand/collapse submenu for Podcasts & Shows Daily + [morning-ed] Morning Edition + [we_otheren] Weekend Edition Saturday + [we_otheren] Weekend Edition Sunday + [all-things] All Things Considered + [fresh-air] Fresh Air + [up-first] Up First Featured + [rough-tran] Rough Translation + [ltar_s2_ti] Louder Than A Riot + [ibam_tile-] It's Been a Minute + [life-kit_t] Life Kit + More Podcasts & Shows * Search * Newsletters * * NPR Shop * NPR Music NPR Music * Tiny Desk * All Rap Is Local * All Songs Considered * Music Features * Live Sessions * About NPR * Diversity * Organization * NPR Network * Support * Careers * Connect * Press * Ethics Two behavioral scientists who study honesty accused of using falsified data : Planet Money Dan Ariely and Francesca Gino are two of the biggest stars in behavioral science. Both have conducted blockbuster research into how to make people more honest, research we've highlighted on Planet Money. The two worked together on a paper about how to "nudge" people to be more honest on things like forms or tax returns. Their trick: move the location where people attest that they have filled in a form honestly from the bottom of the form to the top. But recently, questions have arisen about whether the data Ariely and Gino relied on in their famous paper about honesty were fabricated -- whether their research into honesty was itself built on lies. The blog Data Colada went looking for clues in the cells of the studies' Excel spreadsheets, the shapes of their data distributions, and even the fonts that were used. The Hartford, an insurance company that collaborated with Ariely on one implicated study, told NPR this week in a statement that it could confirm that the data it had provided for that study had been altered had been altered after they gave it to Ariely, but prior to the research's publication: "It is clear the data was manipulated inappropriately and supplemented by synthesized or fabricated data." Ariely denies that he was responsible for the falsified data. "Getting the data file was the extent of my involvement with the data," he told NPR. Help support Planet Money and get bonus episodes by subscribing to Planet Money+ in Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org/planetmoney. Planet Money Planet Money NPR * Planet Money * LISTEN & FOLLOW * + NPR App + Apple Podcasts + Spotify + Google Podcasts + Amazon Music + RSS link Fabricated data in research about honesty. You can't make this stuff up. Or, can you? July 28, 20234:15 AM ET By Nick Fountain, photographed for NPR, 2 August 2022, in New York, NY. Photo by Mamadi Doumbouya for NPR. Nick Fountain , Jeff Guo, photographed for NPR, 2 August 2022, in New York, NY. Photo by Mamadi Doumbouya for NPR. Jeff Guo , Keith Romer , Emma Peaslee Fabricated data in research about honesty. You can't make this stuff up. Or, can you? Listen * 25:57 25:57 Toggle more options * Download * Embed Embed [