I'm interested in seeing the actual science, but I suspect having 1000+ runs for the sake of statistics may be too much.

I myself generally run around in a mix of STR/VIT. Basically I swapped out all piece that had parry on them for STR ones on my DRK. It works fine for me, and had plenty of fast and smooth runs in current content. I think wether a tank uses STR accessories is probably one of the last variables in what makes a run go fast. Imho it's more about team dynamic: gear of each player, knowledge of/comfort with the content, skill at maximizing their job's potential (gosh, I still forget Phlebotomize often as my Dragoon xD), synergy with others, etc. If all of that is good, then I doubt the run will be more than one maybe two minutes faster.

Just my 2 cents.