Blind Testing of Production Material
Being that Dr. Cooksey and her staff are experts in permeation and that they have a lab at their facilities in Clemson, South Carolina, you might ask why they didn't do the testing themselves. The answer to that question is also the answer to how the study was truly blind. Dr. Cooksey didn't know who commissioned the study, but she did know which products she had procured. To provide another level of anonymity/blindness to the study, it was decided that whoever did the actual testing should not know what they were testing.
So, Dr. Cooksey sent the material to the industry leader in permeation equipment and testing, Mocon Inc. in Minneapolis Minnesota. They are the inventors of the technology that ASTM F 1249 is based on. (ASTM F 1249 is one of the accepted permeance tests prescribed by ASTM E 1745. ASTM E 1745 is the standard that vapor retarder/barrier products are measured against.) She sent the material samples to Mocon without product or manufacturer names. The only identifiers on these samples were a three digit numerical code. Mocon not only had no idea who funded/organized the study, but they also didn't even know what they were testing, making this study truly blind.
Next is a quick summary before we see Dr. Cooksey's report.