Brian Wansink (left) and collaborator David Just visiting an elementary school in 2010USDAUpdate (February 28): Cornell's April 2017 statement about issues with Wansink's research is now back online. (h/t Twitter user @SmutClyde)
Emails between Cornell University food scientist Brian Wansink and his collaborators that were obtained by Buzzfeed contain multiple discussions of how to extract seemingly meaningful results from initially lackluster data. The revelations, reported this week (February 26), add to growing criticism of the practices of the prominent researcher, who is known for well-publicized findings on the impact of cues, such as buckets of stale popcorn and bottomless bowls of soup, on human behavior.
Scrutiny of Wansink’s work was initially sparked by a blog entry he posted in November 2016 titled “The Grad Student Who Never Said ‘No,’” in which he lauds a visiting graduate student for her hard work, writing in part, “When she arrived, I gave her a data set of a self-funded, failed ...
