Hi Tipsters -
I would also suggest an actual control condition in addition to the placebo
condition.
Diana Kyle
Fullerton College
Don Allen wrote:
> Dennis-
>
> Recently you said:
>
> "The study is now a true double-blind (Did I miss
> something?), but the control condition allows for more than one
> interpretation of any differences observed."
>
> The possibility of mulitiple interpretations _always_ exists regardless
> of level of control. Even if you could rule out the warm/cold therapist
> explanation someone could argue that there was some other variable (eye
> colour, hair length, etc.) that differed between the groups & caused the
> observed difference in the dependent variable. Since we cannot possibly
> control
> for _all_ possible variables we are forced to rely on Occam's Razor to
> make a determination of which of the competing hypotheses is most
> probable. This is, of course, not just a problem for double blind
> studies but for all of scientific investigation.
>
> BTW While we often tout double blind studies as the "gold standard" I
> caution my students not to think that they are the only path to real
> knowledge. After all, no one has done a double blind study on heart
> transplants but I'm still pretty sure that they work. :)
>
> -Don.
>
> ********************************************************************
> Don Allen email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Dept. of Psychology voice: (604)-323-5871
> Langara College fax: (604)-323-5555
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