(THE GUARDIAN) — The lead author of a study that claimed to find that a brief, face-to-face conversation with a gay political canvasser had the ability to soften the opinions of those opposed to same-sex marriage has retracted its findings, claiming there were errors in his co-author’s work.
The study, which was published in Science in December and was widely covered in the media, found support for same-sex marriage climbed among voters who had a single conversation with a gay or lesbian canvasser. In addition the authors found that the changed views not only lasted for at least a year, but also positively influenced the opinions of other members of the household.
On Tuesday, Donald Green, a professor of political science at Columbia University and an author of the study, retracted it after claiming he learned that his co-author, Michael LaCour, had fabricated some of the data.
“I am deeply embarrassed by this turn of events and apologize to the editors, reviewers, and readers of Science,” Green said in his retraction letter to Science, according to the blog Retraction Watch.