What would make an aviation study/research project/experiment valid?

[N918KT]

I know that in the past few years there have been a series of studies, research projects, and experiments that have been conducted for the aviation industry. One of which was AOPA's study on why so many student pilots drop out and another most recently on the Redbird $1/gallon of avgas experiment.

So correct me if I am wrong, but based on what I have been reading here on POA and elsewhere on the Internet and other aviation forums, some say the experiments are not true and valid or the experiment is flawed.

I am wondering why certain studies, projects, or experiments in aviation are flawed or not valid? Did they have any bias or extraneous variables?

So what would make an experiment, study, or project for aviation valid or flawless? What would people who were conducting the study have to do to make it legit?

 

[dmspilot]

I don't know the details on the AOPA student dropout study but in general "research" in aviation is pretty shallow and unscientific. Part of the problem is the difficulty in collecting data.

The Redbird experiment doesn't mean a whole lot. If every airport sold avgas at $1 for the next 5 years would sales go up 30-fold and stay there? Don't think so.