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


Valuing the Diversity of Research Methods to Advance Nutrition Science


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.