University Of Texas Will No Longer Investigate Mark Regnerus's Gay Parent Study

Mark Regnerus, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin, found fame earlier this summer by publishing a study on what he called "new family structures."

In that study, Regnerus claimed children raised by same-sex couples were more depressed, more likely to cheat on a partner and smoked more pot than kids raised in a so-called "traditional household".

According to most people with level heads and an understanding of scientific process, Regnerus' work amouned to little more than junk science, and garnered Regnerus scores of criticism and the launch of an official investigation by the university into his methodology. Now the university is calling the whole thing off, saying there is not enough evidence of bias or misdirection to require further inquiry.

From the school's official announcement:

After consulting with a four-member advisory panel composed of senior university faculty members, the Office of the Vice President for Research concluded in a report on Aug. 24 that there is insufficient evidence to warrant an investigation.
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As part of the inquiry, the university hired Dr. Alan Price to ensure that the inquiry was conducted appropriately and fairly. Price, a private consultant, is former associate director of the Office of Research Integrity in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Price found that the inquiry was handled in a manner consistent with university policy and indicated the process was “also consistent with federal regulatory requirements of inquiries into research misconduct.”
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As with much university research, Regnerus’ New Family Structures Study touches on a controversial and highly personal issue that is currently being debated by society at large. The university expects the scholarly community will continue to evaluate and report on the findings of the Regnerus article and supports such discussion.

Sounds like they're basically supporting his entire thesis: gays make lousy parents.

Journal's Audit Blasts Flawed Mark Regnerus Study on Gay Parents

The Mark Regnerus study on gay parenting which was published last month and called "flawed, misleading, and scientifically unsound" by GLAAD, HRC, The Family Equality Council and Freedom to Marry has been blown apart again, this time by an internal audit scheduled to appear in the November issue of the journal Social Science Research, which first published the study.

The Chronicle received an advance copy and reports:

Sherkat was given access to all the reviews and correspondence connected with the paper, and was told the identities of the reviewers. According to Sherkat, Regnerus’s paper should never have been published. His assessment of it, in an interview, was concise: “It’s bullsh*t,” he said.

Among the problems Sherkat identified is the paper’s definition of “lesbian mothers” and “gay fathers”—an aspect that has been the focus of much of the public criticism. A woman could be identified as a “lesbian mother” in the study if she had had a relationship with another woman at any point after having a child, regardless of the brevity of that relationship and whether or not the two women raised the child as a couple.

Sherkat said that fact alone in the paper should have “disqualified it immediately” from being considered for publication.

In his audit, he writes that the peer-review system failed because of “both ideology and inattention” on the part of the reviewers (three of the six reviewers, according to Sherkat, are on record as opposing same-sex marriage). What’s more, he writes that the reviewers were “not without some connection to Regnerus,” and suggests that those ties influenced their reviews.

He declined to be more specific in an interview, saying that he was obligated to protect their identities. “Obviously,” he concluded, “the reviewers did not do a good job.”

U. of Texas Investigating Mark Regnerus for Scientific Misconduct Over Flawed, Anti-Gay Parenting 'Study'

The University of Texas is investigating Professor Mark Regnerus after outrage over what GLAAD called a "flawed, misleading, and scientifically unsound paper that seeks to disparage lesbian and gay parents". Following outrage over the article, New Civil Rights Movement blogger Scott Rose sent a letter to the University which appears to have prompted the investigation.

The Austin Statesman reports:

Regnerus declined to comment on the inquiry but said that his study followed the standard protocol of scholarly research.

"A team consisting of leading family researchers was involved in developing the research protocol," Regnerus wrote in an email. "This academic team merged scholars across disciplines and ideological lines in a spirit of civility and reasoned inquiry, and the protocol developed by this team was subsequently approved by the University of Texas' Institutional Review Board."

"Normal procedures were followed for obtaining outside support, as many researchers do," he wrote.

The University of Texas defines scientific misconduct as "fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism" and "practices that seriously deviate from ethical standards."

A panel of UT professors is conducting the inquiry, and the process will be completed within 60 days of the complaint, said Gary Susswein, a UT spokesman. Ultimately, if a university investigation finds that Regnerus' work constitutes scientific misconduct, Provost Steven Leslie would decide how the administration will proceed, Susswein said.

The unsound study, picked up widely in media and trumpeted by anti-gay groups. appeared to overturn three decades of research into families with same-sex parents.