Bias in science

The ideal of science are, of course, unbiased scientists. In reality, scientists are humans, therefore biased. Usually they are biased in favour of their own pet theories. Usually that's not a problem, as long as other scientists have other biases.

The more problematic variant is a common bias. In the case of sexual abuse, it is quite obvious that many researchers have a strong moral bias against sex with children. Some researchers don't deny their bias. For example, Finkelhor describes sexual abuse as a moral problem and compares volitional sexual relations with "consensual slavery".

Another remarkable quote from Finkelhor 1986, p.178 suggests not only that for many researchers political goals have priority, but that some of them go too far in their exaggerations even in Finkelhor's opinion:

Political Pressures. The current priority for many in the field is to convince policymakers that sexual abuse has serious immediate and long-term consequences, which then contribute to other public and menthal health pathologies for its victims. However, it is important that advocates not exaggerate or overstate the intensity or inevitability of these consequences. In addition to policymakers, victims and their families wait for research findings on the effects of sexual abuse and they may be further victimized by exaggerated claims about the effects of sexual abuse. It is not possible to maintain two sets of conclusions about the effects of sexual abuse: a dire one for political purposes, and a hopeful one for family members. Thus the presence of both auditories requires that those who conduct and interpret research in this field maintain a posture of objectivity and balance.

An interesting article about biased scientists is Okami P., Sociopolitical Biases in the Contemporary Scientific Literature on Sexual Behavior with Children and Adolescents.

The influence of the bias on the results of the research is dangerous, but even not the main problem. It appears sufficient to use biased terminology to describe the results of the research:
Rind, Bruce; Bauserman, Robert
Biased terminology effects and biased information processing in research on adult-nonadult sexual interactions: An empirical investigation
Journal of Sex Research, 30(3), 260-269 (1993)

What seems really dangerous is a bias of "child abuse experts" if they participate as experts in courtrooms:
Horner TM, Guyer MJ, Kalter NM
The biases of child sexual abuse experts: believing is seeing
Bull Am Acad Psychiatry Law 21(3):281-292 (1993)