Scientific and Statistical Principles

Below is a collection of resources including a series of articles published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition offering tutorials on existing and established statistical methods for the design and analysis of nutrition-related research.

A Guide for Authors and Readers of the American Society for Nutrition Journals on the Proper Use of P Values and Strategies that Promote Transparency and Improve Research Reproducibility


Resources for the Design and Conduct of Human Nutrition Randomized Controlled Trials


Introduction to the series “Best (but Oft-Forgotten) Practices” 

Dennis M Bier, David B Allison, David H Alpers, Arne Astrup, Kevin D Cashman, Paul M Coates, Naomi K Fukagawa, David M Klurfeld, Richard D Mattes, Ricardo Uauy

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 102, Issue 2, 1 August 2015, Pages 239–240, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.117697 Published: 15 July 2015

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Best (but oft-forgotten) practices: designing, analyzing, and reporting cluster randomized controlled trials 

Andrew W Brown, Peng Li, Michelle M Bohan Brown, Kathryn A Kaiser, Scott W Keith, J Michael Oakes, David B Allison

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 102, Issue 2, 1 August 2015, Pages 241–248, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.114.105072 Published: 27 May 2015

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Nutrition 2018 Presentation: Cluster Randomized Trials

Peng Li, PhD, Department of Biostatistics, University of Alabama Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama


Best (but oft-forgotten) practices: checking assumptions concerning regression residuals

Lawrence E Barker, Kate M Shaw

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 102, Issue 3, 1 September 2015, Pages 533-539, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.113498 Published: 01 September 2015

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Best (but oft forgotten) practices: testing for treatment effects in randomized trials by separate analyses of changes from baseline in each group is a misleading approach

J Martin Bland, Douglas G Altman

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 102, Issue 5, November 2015, Pages 991–994, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.119768

Response to “Best (but oft forgotten) practices: testing for treatment effects in randomized trials by separate analyses of changes from baseline in each group is a misleading approach”  (Kimber L Stanhope, Peter J Havel)

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 103, Issue 2, 1 February 2016, Pages 589, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.125989 Published: 01 February 2016

Reply to KL Stanhope and PJ Havel (J Martin Bland, Douglas G Altman)

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 103, Issue 2, 1 February 2016, Pages 589, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.125997 Published: 01 February 2016


Best (but oft-forgotten) practices: the multiple problems of multiplicity—whether and how to correct for many statistical tests

David L Streiner

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 102, Issue 4, 1 October 2015, Pages 721–728, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.113548 Published: 05 August 2015

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Nutrition 2018 Presentation: Issues in Multiple Testing

John A. Dawson, PhD, Department of Nutritional Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX


Best (but oft-forgotten) practices: sensitivity analyses in randomized controlled trials 

Russell J de Souza, Rebecca B Eisen, Stefan Perera, Bianca Bantoto, Monica Bawor, Brittany B Dennis, Zainab Samaan, Lehana Thabane

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 103, Issue 1, 1 January 2016, Pages 5–17, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.121848Published:16 December 2015

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Nutrition 2018 Presentation: Sensitivity Analysis

Lehana Thabane, PhD, Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada


Best (but oft-forgotten) practices: expressing and interpreting associations and effect sizes in clinical outcome assessments

Lori D McLeod, Joseph C Cappelleri, Ron D Hays

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 103, Issue 3, 1 March 2016, Pages 685–693, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.120378 Published:10 February 2016 Erratum 

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Best (but oft-forgotten) practices: the design, analysis, and interpretation of Mendelian randomization studies 

Philip C Haycock, Stephen Burgess, Kaitlin H Wade, Jack Bowden, Caroline Relton, George Davey Smith

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 103, Issue 4, 1 April 2016, Pages 965–978, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.118216 Published:09 March 2016

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Best (but oft-forgotten) practices: propensity score methods in clinical nutrition research 

M Sanni Ali, Rolf HH Groenwold, Olaf H Klungel

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 104, Issue 2, 1 August 2016, Pages 247–258, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.125914 Published:13 July 2016

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Best (but oft-forgotten) practices: intention-to-treat, treatment adherence, and missing participant outcome data in the nutrition literature 

Bradley C Johnston, Gordon H Guyatt

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 104, Issue 5, 1 November 2016, Pages 1197–1201, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.115.123315 Published:12 October 2016

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Best (but oft-forgotten) practices: mediation analysis 

Amanda J Fairchild, Heather L McDaniel

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 105, Issue 6, 1 June 2017, Pages 1259–1271, https://doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.117.152546 Published: 26 April 2017

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Best (but oft-forgotten) practices: missing data methods in randomized controlled nutrition trials

Peng Li, Elizabeth A Stuart

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 109, Issue 3, March 2019, Pages 504–508, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqy271 Published: 22 February 2019


Best (but oft forgotten) practices: sample size planning for powerful studies

Samantha F Anderson

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 110, Issue 2, August 2019, Pages 280–295, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqz058 Published: 27 May 2019


Best (but oft-forgotten) practices: identifying and accounting for regression to the mean in nutrition and obesity research

Diana M Thomas, Nicholas Clark, Dusty Turner, Cynthia Siu, Tanya M Halliday, Bridget A Hannon, Chanaka N Kahathuduwa, Cynthia M Kroeger, Roger Zoh, David B Allison

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 111, Issue 2, February 2020, Pages 256–265, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqz196 Published: 24 September 2019

Nutrition 2018 Presentation: Regression to the Mean

David Allison, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, Bloomington, IN


Best (but oft-forgotten) practices: sample size and power calculation for a dietary intervention trial with episodically consumed foods

Wei Zhang, Aiyi Liu, Zhiwei Zhang, Tonja Nansel, Susan Halabi

The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, nqaa176, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqaa176 Published: 09 July 2020

American Society for Nutrition has a resource area for nutrition science teaching tools. Get access to past meeting content and other special collections.