Organizations with particular economic or political interests often fund social science research

Question

Is it reasonable, therefore, to say that the research cannot be trusted because the organization that funded the research had a vested interest in X, whatever policy, economic result, or interest X might be?

What will be an ideal response

Answer 1

It is not the social scientist's job to make policy recommendations about what individuals, corporations, or nations ought to do. But, social science findings should certainly inform those personal, business, or public policy decisions. And social scientists as people, shareholders, or citizens have the right to make decisions or to give advice on those matters. But in doing so the social scientist is going beyond simply presenting findings based on good research. The person is stepping across into another arena, from describing, explaining, and predicting what is happening or will happen, into forming recommendations and decisions about what ought to happen. Strong critical thinking indicates that while we ought to be wary about research that is funded by corporations or organizations that have a financial, political, or other interest in how the findings turn out, we do not have to reject all such research out of hand. The question here is about the scientific integrity of the social science investigator who was commissioned to do the research. If the investigation was conducted using a rigorous scientific approach and if the scientist was free to pursue the investigation wherever the evidence led, then we could trust the findings.