I do worry that some of these EA types dive head-first into a random smattering of google scholar searches with no subject matter expertise, find a mess of studies, then conclude "ah well, better just trust my super rational bayesian priors!" instead of talking with a current subject matter expert. Research -- even observational research -- has changed a lot since the days of "one-week observational study on a few dozen preschoolers."

EA types spend a lot of time talking with subject matter experts, see e.g. https://www.givewell.org/international/technical/programs/vi...