I don't understand the link you're drawing between self-worth and willingness to participate in this spreadsheet exercise, but I suppose it is beside the point.

I don't understand the link you're drawing between self-worth and willingness to participate in this spreadsheet exercise, but I suppose it is beside the point. I certainly agree that if someone is trying to make a statistical claim then they should be the ones to do the due diligence on the data, and on their analyses, to show that they stand up - I would certainly expect this in a more formal publication. What I am disputing is that one can dismiss the conclusions simply due to the lack of these checks, without considering what the data might tell you. Nearly always such dismissive arguments strike me as a disagreement with the conclusions, rather than a claim about failings in the data - a more convincing argument would present a reason why the data are flawed, such as the one you have given in this response (even if I don't understand it).