http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7869317.stm
Page last updated at 12:20 GMT, Wednesday, 4 February 2009
Iraqi death researcher censured
An academic whose estimates of civilian deaths during the Iraq war sparked controversy has been criticised for not fully co-operating with an inquiry.
Gilbert Burnham said in the Lancet medical journal in 2006 that 650,000 civilians had died since 2003 - a figure far higher than other estimates.
A polling association in the US said Dr Burnham had refused to supply "basic facts" for its inquiry into his work.
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The AAPOR's executive council said in a statement carried by the Associated Press news agency: "When asked to provide several basic facts about this research, Burnham refused."
It said it wanted to know the wording of questions asked and instructions and explanations given to respondents.
"Dr Burnham provided only partial information and explicitly refused to provide complete information about the basic elements of his research," said Mary Losch, chair of the association's standards committee.
She added that Dr Burnham's refusal to co-operate "violates the fundamental standards of science, seriously undermines open public debate on critical issues and undermines the credibility of all survey and public opinion research."
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Originally posted by zeeblebotGosh, man. Everyone knows that the AAPOR is a front organization for the RSPB and the NAS/NWT. And besides, information about the wording of questions asked and instructions and explanations given to respondents was provided in full by Les Roberts, Riyadh Lafta, Richard Garfield and Jamal Khudhairi.
The AAPOR's executive council said in a statement carried by the Associated Press news agency: "When asked to provide several basic facts about this research, Burnham refused."