The dog ate your homework. Your alarm clock refused to go off.  You really sorry but you have to cancel because...

Planning on telling a fib? Chances are, you'll send a text. Not only can texting be a very risky business, but according to new research by David Xu, assistant professor in the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University, texting is also the easiest way to lie.

The study, which will appear in the March edition of the Journal of Business Ethics, saw 170 students from the Sauder School performing mock stock transactions face-to-face, or by video, audio or text chatting.

It may not come as a surprise that participants were 95 percent more likely to report deception when texting than if they had interacted via video, 31 percent more likely to report deception when compared to face-to-face, and 18 percent more likely if the interaction was via audio chat.

What was surprising, though, was the honesty factor involved in video conferencing, which Xu attributed to the so-called "spotlight" effect in which a person "feels they're being watched more closely" on video than face-to-face.

The findings could prove important in business dealings where new technology like face-time is available for meetings. On a personal level, treat those texts you receive with suspicion. There may well be a white lie lurking between the lines.

Ever texted a porky? Come on, spill it. We won't tell, promise...