researcher or propagandist?

http://www.religioustolerance.org/spankin5.htm

1996: Review of corporal punishment studies:

Robert E. Larzelere is the director of research at Boys Town, NE, and
a skeptic of the anti-spanking position. He analyzed what he
considered to be the eight strongest studies of corporal punishment
(CP). 8 He found that they showed that spanking and other forms of
violence short of actual abuse had "beneficial outcomes." However, the
study seems almost without value when closely examined:

- Seven of the eight studies measured only the child's short term
compliance to the parent's request. There is probably a consensus
among therapists, child psychologists, researchers and parents that
spanking does make the child behave, at least for a little while. What
these studies did not examine are the long-term effects of spanking
observed by other studies: increasing non-compliance by the child,
increased anti-social behavior with other children, and long range
emotional and addictive problems as an adult. It is worth noting that
in five of the seven cases, the effectiveness of spanking was compared
to alternative methods of discipline. Spanking offered no advantages.

- The eighth study did show long-term beneficial results from
spanking. However it dealt only with a single child who had a severe
conduct disorder, and who might be suffering from schizophrenia. Thus,
one cannot extrapolate the study's results to the general population
of children. In addition, most of the study dealt with training the
mother to reinforce the child's positive behaviors and to be more
confident and consistent in issuing commands to the child. One might
speculate that an equivalent or even better beneficial result might
have been observed if the spanking were replaced by an alternative
form of discipline.