Double-blind testing is a scientific method where neither the test subjects nor the administrators know who is in the control or experimental group. It eliminates bias and ensures accurate results. In pharmaceutical testing, a placebo is given to the control group while the experimental group receives the actual drug. Double-blinding is an industry standard and involves a separate coordinator assigning random numbers to test subjects. The cost is higher but many scientists believe it is worth the benefits. Triple-blind testing involves blinding the statistician examining the results.
A double-blind test is a scientific test in which neither the test subjects nor the administrators know who is in the control group and who is in the experimental group. The intent is to create an unbiased testing environment, ensuring that test results are accurate and stand up to scrutiny by other members of the scientific community. The concept of double-blind testing is a prime example of the scientific method, as it aims to be entirely objective and potentially repeatable.
Basic knowledge of clinical trials
Before delving into the details of a double-blind test, it’s helpful to understand how scientific tests are typically administered. For our purposes, we will use a test of a new pharmaceutical product as an example, although such testing can also be performed to research other questions of interest in fields such as psychology. The goal of the test is to determine whether or not the drug is effective and what the side effects of the drug may be.
Blinding
You could just offer the drug to a group of people and look at the results, but most drug tests involve the use of a placebo or a fake drug. A placebo is a substance that appears to the casual observer to be a real drug, but has no physical effect on the body. The test subjects are carefully screened to ensure they are at roughly the same level of health, and then divided into two groups. One group, the control group, is given a placebo while being told it is the real test substance, while the other group, the experimental group, is given the actual drug. The results between the two groups are compared to see if the test substance has any measurable, helpful effects or not.
Typically, such a test is “blind,” meaning that the test subjects do not know whether they are in the control group or the experimental group. This is intended to eliminate bias from test subjects, who may respond differently if they know which group they are in. In a double-blind test, even the researchers performing the test don’t know who is in which group. This eliminates observer or experimenter bias, as experimenters may unknowingly influence participants because they expect them to respond in a particular way. Double-blind testing is an industry standard for many pharmaceutical tests.
Double Blinding
To administer a double-blind test, a separate coordinator assigns random numbers to test subjects and divides them into two groups. Each subject is assigned a unique code known only to the coordinator. This coordinator also provides the drug to be administered. At the end of the experiment, the researchers are given the code so they can start interpreting the results.
Using a double-blind test method can ensure that the test results are valid and more widely accepted by the general scientific community. It tends to cost more to administer a double-blind test, due to the additional paperwork and processing, but many scientists believe this cost is worth the benefits. In an even more elaborate situation, a triple-blind test, the statistician examining the results is also blinded to the identities of the experimental and control group members.
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