Randomised Control Trial Flashcards
What is a randomised control trial?
Gold standard
Key features:
Presence If control group
Random allocation to groups
May or may not be blinded
What factors do we need to consider about external validity?
Population validity: is the sample population similar to the population the researchers wish to generalise to?
Ecological validity:
Is the setting for the research similar enough to the real world?
Do the outcome measures reflect real world performance?
People may behave differently just because they know they are being studied (hawthorn effect)
What is the hawthorn effect?
People can change behaviour when they know they are being studied?
What factors do we need to consider about internal validity?
Will a difference in outcome measure between groups actually arise because of the treatment rather than because of an alternative EF?
Is it:
Placebo controlled?
Blinded?
Randomly assigned?
