Re: Tell me what is wrong with this "study."


"Sure, there is "bought science." But I think it's comparatively
rare. There's no good to anybody's career in publishing a paper
that's unrepeatable, no matter how much you're paid. This WILL
catch up to anybody."

Unfortunately, that is wrong in fields where big commercial money
is involved. Once you have tenure at a university, a lot of your
status depends on how much grant money you can bring in. The more
money you have, the more grad students you can pay and get. Lots
of academics pick their industry and stay there. I've all too
much first hand experience of this with pesticides and human
health, and my sister says pharmaceuticals are just as bad.

One of the most common methods is to determine which test will
give the results the customer wants to hear, as opposed to the
tests that would maximize the chance of getting things right.
Unless you are an expert in the analysis method used, this can be
very difficult to detect. But, the test used WILL be repeatable
and the results of that test properly reported - it's just that
it's misleading or irrelevant with respect to the question.

The use of this study's authors of a trademarked name of the
grantor, as opposed to a generic name, is a dead-ringer giveaway.
Anyone trying to get things right will note the brand name of
products used in a footnote for purposes of identification so
tests can be replicated, but will never use them as a focus of
main text.

Skip TC's comment about 'these guys are making millions', though.
A prof can make a lot of money off consulting or by combining a
university position with active work for a specific company, but
I know of no university that does not require that study grant
money be used to further the research. Also, don't forget that
universities tithe a percentage of all grant money to fund
general operations. You almost never find a university objecting
to paid research as long as it looks respectable, you'll only
find them checking papers to ensure that any grants reported
comply with the law and their policies. There is more than one
Canadian university who funds a significant part of their
operations this way.
.

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