falsification

Everyday

1. Falsification is changing facts, documents, evidence or results in a dishonest way so that they show something untrue. tree →
2. (science, philosophy) Falsification is showing that an idea or theory is false by testing it, which is an important part of how science works. tree →

In the lessons

In law and honesty lessons, falsification of documents, exam results or accounts is cheating and can be a crime. In science, Karl Popper argued that a good theory must be testable so it could be proved false (falsifiability). In history, rulers sometimes used falsification of records as propaganda. Phrases: «falsification of evidence», «falsification of records», «data falsification».

Examples

• The company was fined for falsification of its accounts. tree →
• Falsification of exam results is serious cheating. tree →
• The scientist lost her job for falsification of data. tree →
• Old photos were edited in a falsification of history. tree →
• One black swan was enough for the falsification of «all swans are white». tree →
• The police found falsification of the passport. tree →

Note

Verb: falsify (falsifies, falsified). Adjective: false. In science, finding evidence that disagrees with a theory is a good thing, not cheating; falsifying results is cheating.