Edward Wegman

Last updated

Edward Wegman is an American statistician and was a professor of statistics at George Mason University until his retirement in 2018. [1] He holds a Ph.D. in mathematical statistics and is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association, a Senior Member of the IEEE, and past chair of the National Research Council Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics. In addition to his work in the field of statistical computing, Wegman contributed a report to a Congressional hearing on climate change at the request of Republican Rep. Joe Barton. Wegman's report supported criticisms of the methodology of two specific paleoclimate studies into the temperature record of the past 1000 years, and argued that climate scientists were excessively isolated from the statistical mainstream. Subsequently, significant portions of Wegman's report were found to have been copied without attribution from a variety of sources, including Wikipedia, and a publication based on the report was retracted. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Career

Wegman, a St. Louis, Missouri native, received a B.S. in mathematics from Saint Louis University in 1965. He then went to graduate school at the University of Iowa, where he earned an M.S. in 1967 and a Ph.D. in 1968, both in mathematical statistics. He held a faculty position at the University of North Carolina for ten years. In 1978, Wegman joined the Office of Naval Research, in which he headed the Mathematical Sciences Division. [5] Later, Wegman served as the first program director of the Ultra High Speed Computing basic research program for the Strategic Defense Initiative's Innovative Science and Technology Office. He joined the faculty of George Mason University in 1986 and developed a master's degree program in statistical science. [5] He retired from his position at George Mason University in 2018. [1]

Wegman is credited with coining the phrase "computational statistics" and developing a high-profile research program around the concept that computing resources could transform statistical techniques. He also has been the associate editor of seven academic journals, a member of numerous editorial boards, and the author of more than 160 papers and five books. Wegman is a member of the American Statistical Association, a former president of the International Association for Statistical Computing, and a past chairman of the Committee on Applied and Theoretical Statistics for the United States National Academy of Sciences. [5] Wegman received the 2002 Founders Award from the American Statistical Association for "over thirty years of exceptional service and leadership to the American Statistical Association." [2] [6]

Energy and Commerce hearing & plagiarism

In 2006, Republican Congressman Joe Barton chose Wegman to assist the House Energy and Commerce Committee in its inquiry criticizing the multi-proxy paleoclimate reconstructions which had been dubbed the "hockey stick graph". Wegman produced a report and offered testimony supporting published papers disputing the methodology and data used by the climate scientists. [7] The legitimacy of this investigation was disputed, and Sherwood Boehlert as chairman of the United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology arranged for an investigation by the National Research Council, the North Report which found that the Wegman committee's conclusions lacked substance. [8]

In October 2010, George Mason University (GMU) announced they were conducting a formal investigation into charges of plagiarism and misconduct related to the Wegman Report. [9] In November 2010, USA Today reported that the "review of the 91-page report, by three experts... found repeated instances of passages lifted word for word and what appear to be thinly disguised paraphrases" of wording taken from the textbook Paleoclimatology: Reconstructing Climates of the Quaternary, as well as erroneous citations of data. [10] Wegman criticized the "speculation and conspiracy theory" in the original allegations, and said that "these attacks are unprecedented" in his long career. [10] A Nature editorial in May 2011 called the delays in GMU's inquiry "disheartening," as "long misconduct investigations do not serve anyone, except perhaps university public-relations departments that might hope everyone will have forgotten about a case by the time it wraps up," and urged resolution "as speedily as possible while allowing time for due process." [11]

In May 2011 the journal Computational Statistics and Data Analysis retracted a 2008 social network analysis based on the Wegman Report by Yasmin Said, Wegman, and others, because the paper used portions of other authors' writings without sufficient attribution. [3] [12] The lawyer for both authors said they stood by their work. [13] Subsequently, USA Today reported additional concerns about separate 2009 review article authored by Wegman and Said which contained material copied without attribution from Wikipedia. Wegman, his attorney, and George Mason University declined to comment on the allegations. [4]

Ultimately, an investigation by George Mason University was completed in February 2012. The investigation found that regarding the Congressional Wegman Report, "no misconduct was involved"; while "extensive paraphrasing of another work did occur, in a background section... the work was repeatedly referenced and the committee found that the paraphrasing did not constitute misconduct". A separate university committee examining Said & Wegman's 2008 publication, based on the Wegman report, found "that plagiarism occurred in contextual sections of the article, as a result of poor judgment for which Professor Wegman, as team leader, must bear responsibility." The university's reports were not made public, but it was announced that Wegman was to receive an "official letter of reprimand" as a consequence. [14] The decision was decried by Raymond S. Bradley, one of the scientists whose work had been copied without attribution by Said & Wegman; Bradley argued that the findings would encourage GMU students to think it acceptable to copy work without attribution. [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Mason University</span> Public research university in Fairfax, Virginia

George Mason University (GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia near Washington, D.C.

Scientific misconduct is the violation of the standard codes of scholarly conduct and ethical behavior in the publication of professional scientific research. It is violation of scientific integrity: violation of the scientific method and of research ethics in science, including in the design, conduct, and reporting of research.

John R. Mashey is an American computer scientist, director and entrepreneur.

Stylometry is the application of the study of linguistic style, usually to written language. It has also been applied successfully to music, paintings, and chess.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hockey stick graph (global temperature)</span> Graph in climate science

Hockey stick graphs present the global or hemispherical mean temperature record of the past 500 to 2000 years as shown by quantitative climate reconstructions based on climate proxy records. These reconstructions have consistently shown a slow long term cooling trend changing into relatively rapid warming in the 20th century, with the instrumental temperature record by 2000 exceeding earlier temperatures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Wansink</span> American consumer behavior researcher

Brian Wansink is an American former professor and researcher who worked in consumer behavior and marketing research. He was the executive director of the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP) from 2007 to 2009 and held the John S. Dyson Endowed Chair in the Applied Economics and Management Department at Cornell University, where he directed the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.

Plagiarism detection or content similarity detection is the process of locating instances of plagiarism or copyright infringement within a work or document. The widespread use of computers and the advent of the Internet have made it easier to plagiarize the work of others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statistical Assessment Service</span>

Statistical Assessment Service (STATS) was a non-profit organization that analyzed and critiqued the presentation of scientific findings and statistical evidence in the news media. Formerly associated with George Mason University and the Center for Media and Public Affairs, STATS is currently associated with Jon Entine's Science Literacy Project and Sense About Science USA.

A lack of oversight and a lack of proper training for scientists have led to the rise of plagiarism and research misconduct in India. India does not have a statutory body to deal with scientific misconduct in academia, like the Office of Research Integrity in the US, and hence cases of plagiarism are often dealt in ad-hoc fashion with different routes being followed in different cases. In most cases, a public and media outcry leads to an investigation either by institutional authorities or by independent enquiry committees. Plagiarists have in some cases been suspended, removed or demoted. However, no fixed route has been prescribed to monitor such activities. This has led to calls for establishment of an independent ethics body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Computational statistics</span> Interface between statistics and computer science

Computational statistics, or statistical computing, is the study which is the intersection of statistics and computer science, and refers to the statistical methods that are enabled by using computational methods. It is the area of computational science specific to the mathematical science of statistics. This area is fast developing. The view that the broader concept of computing must be taught as part of general statistical education is gaining momentum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jagadish Shukla</span> Indian meteorologist

Jagadish Shukla is an Indian meteorologist and Distinguished University Professor at George Mason University in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plagiarism</span> Using another authors work as if it was ones own original work

Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work. Although precise definitions vary depending on the institution, in many countries and cultures plagiarism is considered a violation of academic integrity and journalistic ethics, as well as social norms around learning, teaching, research, fairness, respect, and responsibility. As such, a person or entity that is determined to have committed plagiarism is often subject to various punishments or sanctions, such as suspension, expulsion from school or work, fines, imprisonment, and other penalties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Volgenau School of Engineering</span> Constituent college of George Mason University

The Volgenau School of Engineering is part of the George Mason University College of Engineering and Computing. Based in the Fairfax campus of George Mason University in the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Volgenau School offers programs at the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. levels.

The Climatic Research Unit email controversy began in November 2009 with the hacking of a server at the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) at the University of East Anglia (UEA) by an external attacker, copying thousands of emails and computer files to various internet locations several weeks before the Copenhagen Summit on climate change.

Carlo Maria Croce is an Italian-American professor of medicine at Ohio State University, specializing in oncology and the molecular mechanisms underlying cancer. Croce and his research have attracted public attention because of multiple allegations of scientific misconduct.

The Wegman Report was prepared in 2006 by three statisticians led by Edward Wegman at the request of Rep. Joe Barton of the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce to validate criticisms made by Stephen McIntyre and Ross McKitrick of reconstructions of the temperature record of the past 1000 years, in particular the reconstructions by Mann, Bradley and Hughes of what had been dubbed the hockey stick graph.

The North Report was a 2006 report evaluating reconstructions of the temperature record of the past two millennia, providing an overview of the state of the science and the implications for understanding of global warming. It was produced by a National Research Council committee, chaired by Gerald North, at the request of Representative Sherwood Boehlert as chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science.

Francesca Gino is an Italian-American behavioral scientist.

Contributors to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, often referred to as Wikipedians, license their submitted content under a Creative Commons license, which permits re-use as long as attribution is given. However, there have been a number of occasions when persons have failed to give the necessary attribution and attempted to pass off material from Wikipedia as their own work. Such plagiarism is a violation of the Creative Commons license and, when discovered, can be a reason for embarrassment, professional sanctions, or legal issues.

References

  1. 1 2 "Symposium on Data Science and Statistics – Beyond Big Data: Leading the Way – Honoring Dr. Edward Wegman". George Mason University. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
  2. 1 2 Gelman, Andrew; Babsøll, Thomas. "To Throw Away Data: Plagiarism as a Statistical Crime". American Scientist . 101 (3): 168. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  3. 1 2 Said, Y.; Wegman, E.; Sharabati, W.; Rigsby, J. (2008). "Social networks of author–coauthor relationships". Computational Statistics & Data Analysis. 52 (4): 2177–2184. doi: 10.1016/j.csda.2007.07.021 . (Retracted)
  4. 1 2 Vergano, Dan (October 5, 2011). "More Wikipedia copying from climate critics". USA Today . Retrieved October 12, 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 "Alumni Association distinguished alumni awards". University of Iowa. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007.
  6. ↑ ASA Founders Award winners
  7. ↑ Wegman, Edward J.; Said, Yasmin H.; Scott, David W. (2006), "Ad Hoc Committee Report On The 'Hockey Stick' Global Climate Reconstruction" (PDF), Congressional Report, United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce (published 14 July 2006), archived from the original (PDF) on 16 July 2006
  8. ↑ Powell, James Lawrence (13 August 2013). The Inquisition of Climate Science. Columbia University Press. pp. 229–230. ISBN   978-0-231-52784-2.
  9. ↑ "University investigating prominent climate science critic". USA Today. October 8, 2010.
  10. 1 2 Vergano, Dan (November 22, 2010). "Experts claim 2006 climate report plagiarized". USA Today.
  11. ↑ "Copy and paste". Nature. 473 (7348): 419–420. 2011. Bibcode:2011Natur.473R.419.. doi: 10.1038/473419b . PMID   21614031.
  12. ↑ "Journal Retracts Disputed Network Analysis Paper on Climate". Science. June 2, 2011. Archived from the original on June 7, 2011.
  13. ↑ Vergano, Dan (May 15, 2011). "Climate study gets pulled after charges of plagiarism". USA Today.
  14. 1 2 Vergano, Dan (February 22, 2012). "University reprimands climate science critic for plagiarism". USA Today . Retrieved 23 February 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.