Topic: Honest Intentions in Research

Thread: One of your colleagues is planning on changing (ie. altering the numbers) his collected data to make the data say what he wants the data to state. His plan is to submit the abstract to a national or regional conference for a presentation, complete a manuscript, and then submit it for potential publication in a major journal in the field of exercise science.
Comment on how your colleagues actions are morally wrong and identify all of the consequences that his dishonest actions may yield. Suggest to your colleague what he should do with his research results and indicate how this could help his academic and vocational career as well as to whom he represents (ie. university affiliation, etc.).
Discuss why it is important that he does not change his data and, instead, present the data in the manner it was originally and honestly assessed. If he altered the data due to a level of significance issue, explain to him how he could assess the data again with a different level of significance (ie. alpha level). Also, comment on how changing the level of significance could be beneficial to the studys results or not help at all.