Doug Adams, Poynter Center fellow
Douglas Adams, associate professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Arkansas, attended his first Teaching Research Ethics Workshop in 2003. He liked it so much that he persuaded the university to send him twice more. He developed a working relationship with Kenneth Pimple of the Poynter Center, and they have collaborated on research and writing since 2004.
Their first collaborative work, which links the discipline of criminology to research ethics and responsible conduct, was published in 2005 in Accountability in Research, Volume 12:3. Adams, on sabbatical from the University of Arkansas, spent part of spring 2013 in Bloomington, working with co-author Pimple on a book.
Adams presented part of his research March 19 at a Poynter Center Roundtable. His title was "Criminology, Sociology and the Responsible Conduct of Research -- The Road Well Traveled: Deterring Acts of 'Misconduct." Adams made an argument for a comprehensive social control model that includes both internal and external controls.
In addition to laws, rules, policies and routines, Adams emphasized the importance of social interactions with others and an ethical decision process that encourages talking through a problem or seeking guidance from others.
