Like many other practices there are those that think companion planting works quite well and those that think it is largely a waste of time and energy. Like you I have not found much research to support the concept but it was practised by our ancestors that did not have the pesticides we have today. I have found that some that deride companion planting have planted only one or two of the companion plants, not several, and then state firmly it does not work, and many informaikton sources do not makew clear you need an abundance of those plants to guide the insect pests away from the target pants.
Contrary to what the advocates of synthetic gardening seem to preach there is not one single thing that helps protect your garden but it takes a combination starting with a good, healthy soil that grows strong and healthy plants, companion planting, proper watering, etc.
I have seen that some advocates of companion planitng do recommend removing certain plants called "weeds" that are more attractive to insect pests and that to me is a contradiction and something I would take with a grain, or more, of salt before deciding they were not a reliable information source.

Gee, that was really helpful, kimmsr, lol.

Mava, if you go to the right resources, you can find all kinds of great information. Part of the problem is that so many people don't know the right terminology to use in order to locate the science-based information they are truly seeking.

I'll attach a link to a short ATTRA fact sheet that will help get you on the right path. In truth, ever since humans began to purposefully grow crops, we've been able to observe interrelationships between plants. Those simple observations can, more often than not, be traced to very complex scientific facts.

I suggest that you spend some time doing a bit of homework. The ATTRA site suggests more reading material, too. Then, you will be in a much better position to 'weed' out the silly old husband's tales from the facts. Be prepared with an open mind.

Here is a link that might be useful: ATTRA information

I was told in Master Gardening class from the University of Florida to remove the weeds. I have read several articles stating the same thing. Weeds harbor pest insects.

(Weeds( also attract and feed beneficials. Zackey, you may find this article from the University of Florida of interest.

Here is a link that might be useful: weeds and beneficial insects

ANY "companion plant" works better than bare dirt, because of the way insects assess host plants before laying eggs.
Recent studies on host-plant finding have shown that flying pests are far less successful if their host-plants are surrounded by any other plant, or even "decoy-plants" made of green plastic, cardboard or any other green material. The host-plant finding process occurs in three phases.

The first phase is stimulation by odours characteristic to the host-plant. This induces the insect to try to land on the plant it seeks. But insects avoid landing on brown (bare) soil. So if only the host-plant is present, the insects will quasi-systematically find it by landing on the only green thing around. This is called an "appropriate landing". When it does an "inappropriate landing", it flies off to any other nearby patch of green. It eventually leaves the area if there are too many "inappropriate" landings.

The second phase of host-plant finding is for the insect to make short flights from leaf to leaf to assess the plant's overall suitability. The number of leaf-to-leaf flights varies according to the insect species and to the host-plant stimulus received from each leaf. But the insect must accumulate sufficient stimuli from the host-plant to lay eggs; so it must make a certain number of consecutive "appropriate" landings. Hence if it makes an "inappropriate landing", the assessment of that plant is negative and the insect must start the process anew.

Thus it was shown that clover used as a ground cover had the same disruptive effect on eight pest species from four insect orders. An experiment showed that 36% of cabbage root flies laid eggs beside cabbages growing in bare soil (which resulted in no crop), compared to only 7% beside cabbages growing in clover (which allowed a good crop). Also that simple decoys made of green card disrupted appropriate landings just as well as did the live ground cover.

My messed up bed of peppers, Antigonon leptus (queen's wreath), malabar spinach, Armenian cucumbers, several herbs, volunteer tomatoes, and an orange tree is amazingly pest free because of the variety of plants.

That and the wasps that inspect every leaf of every plant looking for prey.

Adding: This site really looks at the research.

One thing: ... the simple mixing of cultivars, as demonstrated with broccoli in University of California research, can reduce aphid infestation

That's why square-foot gardening and other intercropping methods are usually less infested than clean rows of single varieties.

Here is a link that might be useful: Good link