Draft version 1.7 beta — Revised October 30, 2026

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Selective data acquisition, analysis, or disclosure

A topic page linked from Chapter 4 § 5, Examples of Reported Violations of Enforceable Ethics Codes.

Definition

The compound issue of selective data acquisition, analysis, or disclosure is often related to other issues, such as incompetence (lack of requisite knowledge and skill), negligence (possessing but not using the requisite knowledge and skill), bias, or a deliberate effort to skew the results. Whatever the cause, the result is a compromised investigation whose results are unreliable.

• • The result of selective data acquisition is that the full suite of data that was potentially available to characterize a geological matter was not used in the analysis, so the result cannot be as complete as it might have been. The result might be skewed by the lack of data.
• • The result of selective data analysis — only using some of the data that were collected — is that the data characterization was incomplete and possibly wrong.
• • The result of selective data disclosure is that an independent reviewer will not have all of the information needed to fully understand the situation being investigated, or evaluate the interpretations and conclusions.

Any of these issues separately, or in any combination, would result in a compromised investigation whose results are not trustworthy. Time, effort, money and other resources will have been wasted. If any of these deficiencies were the result of a deliberate decision to skew the investigation toward a pre-determined conclusion, that might form the basis for legal action against those responsible. If the deficiencies slipped by unnoticed, the result might endanger the project or the health, safety, or well-being of the public.

The proper way to conduct a geoscience investigation begins with defining the adequate scope of work needed to reach a reliable, scientifically valid (justified, transparent) result. Then, conduct the investigation ethically and in accord with the relevant best practices. Good work does not anger employers, clients, inspectors, or reviewers, and does not attract lawsuits and unpleasant opposition lawyers who insist on taking your deposition under oath.

The AGI Guidelines for Ethical Professional Conduct document states that "geoscientists should present professional work and reports without falsification or fabrication of data, misleading statements, or omission of relevant facts." ASBOG's Model Rules and Regulations document states, on page 28, that "each professional geologist (P.G.) shall not knowingly or purposefully misrepresent or omit relevant data, or fail to mention a lack of data that might affect the results of an opinion or report."

ASBOG included "selective data acquisition, analysis, or disclosure" as one of the 13 ethical issues in its Task Analysis surveys in 2010 and 2015, each of which was completed by a few thousand respondents—professional geoscientists and academics in the United States and Canada.^1-3 The results of those surveys indicated that "selective data acquisition, analysis, or disclosure" was considered a very serious problem.

Relevant provisions in geoethics codes

AGI – § 1.3; ASBOG – § 16-7f.

Code Abbreviations

• AGI — American Geosciences Institute, AGI Guidelines for Ethical Professional Conduct (2015), Link to current document
• ASBOG — Association of State Boards of Geology, Model Rules and Regulations, Section 16, Code of Ethics (2019), Link to current document; see pages 27 to 29.

Notes and References

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