Seminar #65: Is the randomized trial the gold standard for research?
Many experts call the randomized clinical trial (RCT) the gold standard of research and place it at or near the top of the hierarchy of evidence. Others criticize randomized trials as a flawed research model. The truth is actually somewhere in between.
This seminar gives you the tools to critically assess the strengths and weaknesses of a randomized clinical trial and helps you assess the quality of evidence that such trials provide. The talk requires no mathematical background and uses no formulas.
In this class you will learn how to:
- explain the weaknesses of anecdotal medicine;
- evaluate how informed consent in the RCT can lead to volunteer bias;
- identify situations where the RCT is an inadequate and overly simplistic approach to research.
This class qualifies for 1 IRB Education Credit (IRBEC).
Contents
- Abstract
- Where can I find this handout?
- Statistical Evidence: Overview
- Statistical Evidence: Mountain or Molehill?