Drawing conclusion to your reseach.

If it is manipulated then it can't be a true reflection of what is happening, therefore, you should start again. What is the point of doing research if you are not doing it properly?

Alright, I will pretend for a moment that I am a scientist--not in the general way of dealing with cause and effect in my day to day life but in the more specific way of having gone to a university, gained my doctorate degree, and now earning a lot of money practicing my particular area of expertise. If I were in these scientific shoes, I feel that the most ethical thing for me to do would be to start all over again from scratch. I understand that in this hypothetical situation I may be at jeopardy of losing my career, but so be it. In the name of science and ethics, I would definitely start over.