My wife is a scientist at the local university. It's interesting to get her take on so many of these kinds of studies. She's way more optimistic and tolerant (naive?) than I am. I see so many published studies as being products of the diploma mill. They have to do it, but that doesn't mean it's good.
If it's one thing I learned from Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw, it's that you have to look at the funding source(s) behind the research.