A new expose from BuzzFeed News investigates the work of Brian Wansink, the head of Cornell’s Food and Brands Lab whose career of research has been under fire recently. The man who has long been considered one of the premiere voices in food psychology has been accused of manipulating data, and formulating hypotheses only after collecting data. With five papers already having been retracted, Cornell is investigating his work. BuzzFeed News unearthed two new studies, in addition to the many already under scrutiny, about the interaction between walking and eating in which Wansink and his team obscured results for the sake of a better story. The Wansink method, allegedly, has to do with p-hacking, which refers to reshuffling data until a desirable pattern emerges. Wansink has maintained his pride in his work. Many of his critics have said that the Wansink controversy points to a larger problem in research, which rewards quicker work that produces headlines.
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