%0 Journal Article
%T La disqualification s¨¦lective des sources. Introduction ¨¤ la pratique de la malhonn¨ºtet¨¦ intellectuelle The Selective Disqualification of Sources. An Introduction to the Practice of Intellectual Dishonesty
%A Jean-Michel Chaumont
%J Recherches Sociologiques et Anthropologiques
%D 2011
%I Universit¨¦ Catholique de Louvain
%R 10.4000/rsa.412
%X Ce texte analyse la mani¨¨re dont les membres du Comit¨¦ sp¨¦cial d¡¯experts char-g¨¦s par la Soci¨¦t¨¦ des Nations de superviser une enqu¨ºte internationale sur la traite des femmes entre 1924 et 1927 ont sciemment ¨¦cart¨¦ les ¡°donn¨¦es¡± de l¡¯enqu¨ºte qui infirmaient ou heurtaient leurs convictions. Le m¨¦canisme par lequel ils y sont parvenus est la disqualification s¨¦lective des sources : ils ont d¨¦ni¨¦ de fa on opportuniste la validit¨¦ des sources quand des informations ind¨¦-sirables en ¨¦manaient. Les sources officielles, les sources officieuses et jusqu¡¯aux observations r¨¦alis¨¦es par les enqu¨ºteurs eux-m¨ºmes furent ainsi suc-cessivement disqualifi¨¦es. Cette pratique soul¨¨ve l¡¯enjeu de l¡¯importance peut-¨ºtre sous-estim¨¦e de la probit¨¦ intellectuelle dans la conduite des recherches en sciences sociales. This text analyzes how members of the special Committee of experts charged by the League of Nations with supervising an international enquiry on female slavery between 1924 and 1927 knowingly eliminated investigatory ¡°data¡± which weakened or ran up against their convictions. The mechanism by which they managed to do that is the selective disqualification of sources, which consists in opportunistically denying the validity of sources when undesirable information emanated from them. Thus official sources, semi-official sources and even observations made by the investigators themselves were successively disqualified. This practice raises the issue of the perhaps underestimated importance of intellectual probity in conducting research in the social sciences.
%U http://rsa.revues.org/412