I agree so much with this...I don't think this type of research, at least from what I gathered by reading this article, is particularly a good use of university resources or funding. I hope this was an unfunded project.
I'd like to know more about what their methods were before classifying this as science.
EDIT...reading the actual ms now. I'm not buying some of their arguments, but I appreciate that there's at least some semblance of scientific inquiry, but then there's comparisons that rely on more qualitative deductions, which aren't discussed as methodological considerations.