
That Huge Mediterranean Diet Study Was Flawed. But Was It Wrong? - helloworld
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/13/health/mediterranean-diet-heart-disease.html
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timlod
I read that some researchers doubt the results of the re-analysis. However, I
failed to catch what was their problem with the re-analysis?

Is it that the approach of the study overall was too naïve and out of control?

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lucideer
As someone completely unfamiliar with the field I can only go on indicators of
intent, but the two facts that the re-analysis was: (a) prompted by an
external person finding flaws with their research, and (b) performed by the
original researchers themselves rather than by an independent party, both seem
like red-flags to me for the possibility that the re-analysis could be an
attempt to save face, rather than an honest re-evaluation.

There's no way to say either way for sure, but an independent analysis without
bias would be a little better.

This excerpt from the article also supports the desperately-saving-face
narrative:

"The investigators spent a year working on the re-analysis ... “You cannot
imagine what it has been like,” Dr. Martínez-González said, adding that he and
his team worked through vacations and weekends — and swallowed considerable
professional embarrassment."

