Question

Double-Blind Experiments

1. Neither subjects nor the experimenters know which is the experimental group and which is the control group
2. Danger of experimenter bias is reduced to the extent that the operational definitions of the dependent variables are clear and precise

Would you ever participate in a double-blind experiment? Why or why not?

Answer 1

Dear Student,

Please find below answer to your question

I have not participated in a double-blind experiment, The importance and purpose behind this experiment can be described as below :

In Medicine, scientists and clinicians regard one specific kind of blind study, the double-blind (DB) study-in which both patient and rater are unaware of the medication the patient is receiving— as the definitive way to prove a drug is useful.

Normally A double blind study is a randomized clinical trial in which: You as the patient don't know if you're receiving the experimental treatment, a standard treatment or a placebo..

Interesting thing is that  In a double-blind study, both the participants and the experimenters do not know which group got the placebo and which got the experimental treatment.

While doing this experiment patients are randomized such that essential demographics, such as age, sex, relevant facets of health such as blood pressure or weight, and sometimes racial/ethnic group are controlled for.

The main purpose of this kind of study is to eliminate the power of suggestion. The double-blind study keeps both doctors and participants in the dark as to who is receiving which treatment.

A double blind trial is a trial where neither the researchers nor the patients know what they are getting. The computer gives each patient a code number and the code numbers are then allocated to the treatment groups. Your treatment arrives with your code number on it

A double-blind experiment is beneficial when testing a specific medication.

Half of the participants are given the medication, and the remaining participants are given a placebo.

A placebo is an inactive substance such as a sugar pill that looks identical to the medication.

In conclusion,  This is by far the most common research study done in clinical medicine, because it achieves with a properly performed study a rather definite indication that the intervention (e.g. the medication) works more than by chance.

But it does not indicate that the patient may benefit markedly from the drug: The result may be only marginal not clinically significant effects.

If you like the answer, Kindly up vote

Thank You !!