Today, for the umpteenth time, a student raised a second-hand account of scholars objecting to the imputation of missing data on ethical grounds.  For example that imputing religiosity somehow diminishes the dignity of respondents who choose not to answer the question.  Students - especially those from other disciplines - bring this up from time to time, but can never name a source. Sometimes they say they heard it at a conference.

My question is whether anyone is aware of written articulations of this position - e.g., in published work, on a blog, whatever.   I'd rather address a specific paper or person, statistically misinformed as they might be, than to joust with an urban myth.

Any specific references would be welcome, though of course anecdotes would be great too!

- Eric

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Eric Plutzer 
Associate Editor, Public Opinion Quarterly 
Professor of Political Science, Penn State University

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