Rethinking the Threats to Scientific Balance in Contexts of Litigation and Regulation

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Rethinking the Threats to Scientific Balance in Contexts of Litigation and

Regulation

R. Freudenburg

http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2007/9988/abstract.html

Environmental Studies Program, University of California, Santa Barbara,

California, USA

Abstract

Background: Although existing literature does discuss difficulties of doing

science in contexts of litigation and regulation, work to date reflects little

first-hand experience in such contexts. This gap is understandable but also

potentially troubling: Concerns that seem important from afar may or may not

match those that are most salient for scientists actually engaged in such work.

Objectives: Drawing on experience on scientific committees and in lawsuits, and

using skills developed through doing qualitative fieldwork, I reanalyze past

experiences and field notes from the perspective of the 2006 Coronado Conference

" Truth and Advocacy in Contexts of Litigation and Regulation. " Although I

initially shared the kinds of concerns generally stressed by other scientists

and science-studies scholars—emphasizing overt, relatively sinister efforts to

limit scientific objectivity—neither the literature nor my initial instincts

provided adequate preparation for more subtle influences, which actually created

stronger pressures toward bias. Particularly unexpected pressures came from

consistent deference and praise for independence and credibility.

Discussion and Conclusions: The cases discussed in this article are by nature

suggestive, not definitive ; additional research is clearly needed. Future

research, however, needs to focus not just on pressures toward bias that are

easy to imagine, but also on those that are easy to overlook.

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This article is part of the mini-monograph " Science for Regulation and

Litigation. "

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