monkeys and ponies

I know several people on my flist are scientists, researchers, or generally interested in science research, and since a few of you may not have heard yet about the fan fiction survey, consider this an object lesson in Doing It Wrong. Seriously, how do you get to the point of having a PhD in a scientific field and not realize that you can't change the questions in the middle of the survey without affecting your data? (And that's the least of the problems with this little project – it's just one of the most obvious points of Science Fail.)

The survey is finally down while the researchers "digest all this great feedback." Personally, I agree with the anonmeme theory that this is subtle code for "BRB, BU IRB SMACKING OUR ASSES, AND NOT IN THE GOOD WAY YOU FOLKS WRITE ABOUT."