double-blind study
Neither knows treatment
A double-blind study is a research method where neither the participants nor the researchers administering treatment know who receives the actual intervention and who receives a placebo.
This design prevents bias from influencing results—participants can't respond differently based on expectations, and researchers can't unconsciously treat groups differently.
Double-blind studies are the gold standard in clinical trials: The drug was tested in a double-blind study of 500 patients.
- placeboInactive therapeutic substitute
- sugar pillInactive substitute for medicine
- controlAuthority to direct
- control groupUntreated subjects for comparison
- randomizedArranged by chance
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Documented individual medical account
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