<H4>Pray-for-pregnancy study seriously flawed, fraudulent</H4>

A Columbia University-sponsored study on the efficacy of prayer in aiding women in becoming pregnant has been found to be full of holes, including shoddy methodology and outright fraud.

I remember when this study came out and The Dallas Morning News had a column about it, by either an in-house column or somebody syndicated. I e-mailed that person, expressed some skepticism, and she said, in essence, “It must be true. This is irrefutable.”

I can’t remember who you are, but in the spirit of good science and not gloating, I hope you have the integrity to eat some humble pie now, and in public.

The Skeptical Inquirer story also reveals at least serious journalistic conflict of interest:

It remains to be seen whether ABC's Dr. Johnson, a medical doctor who also serves as a minister at the evangelical Community Covenant Church in West Peabody, Massachusetts, will report or ignore the following shocking information that has since been revealed about the alleged study and its authors. (Emphasis added.)

Let it be also noted that one of the three authors of the study, Daniel Wirth, holds a master's degree in parapsychology.