We love a usability study as much as the next person. But we love well-designed, elegant studies that rightfully point out their own limitations and are printed in peer-reviewed journals most of all. We have less love for studies that act as propaganda, or researchers who draw conclusions not supported by their own data.
Bad research can be found anywhere — even by consultants who make their living from doing research on usability. Well-meaning folks like Jakob Nielsen for one. Recently he released a study on his website on the usability of the Kindle, the iPad, a PC and a book for reading a piece of short fiction.
After noting there was no statistical difference between reading on the Kindle or iPad, and then noting that the data did not reach statistical significance for the iPad versus a book, the authors of this report still declare that “Books Faster Than Tablets.”