More Research to Boggle Over

Although I yield to no man in my respect for the rigour that David Danielson brings to IA research, at times I can’t help wondering if either I’ve got the wrong end of the stick, or he’s up his own a*se.

This time, I’ve been reading Web navigation and the behavioral effects of constantly visible site maps:

This study examines user movement through hierarchically structured Web sites
and the behavioral effects of a constantly visible, textual contents list... 
Users ... dig deeper into the site structure, make less use of the browser’s Back 
button, and frequently make navigational movements of great hierarchical 
distances.

When I read that, is sounds like this to me:

This study examines the effect of giving people a fast car to get to 
where they want to go, as compared to a slow one. Users... when given a 
1990 Porsche 911 Turbo, the majority of those tested could get to Birmingham 
from London in under 68 minutes and had reportedly more fun, and broke down 
significantly less on the way compared to those that were given a 
1978 Hillman Avenger for the same journey."