Why Is It Important to Include a Placebo in a Scientific

question 68

Multiple Choice

Why is it important to include a placebo in a scientific study to assess the effectiveness of a drug?

• A) It's actually unethical to include a placebo and it is usually not done. If you have a drug that you know to be effective, it's unethical to withhold that treatment from an ill patient.
• B) A placebo-treated group will determine if the changes observed in the drug-treated illness group are due to a psychological effect rather than a physiologic/pharmacologic one.
• C) It isn't scientifically important to include a placebo. A placebo simply helps investigators satisfy the legal requirements of the Food and Drug Administration in their testing process.
• D) A placebo-treated group will determine if the changes observed in the illness in this non-treated group are due to a physiologic/pharmacologic effect rather than a psychological one.
• E) Both groups of people are actually given the drug and a placebo. This is a way to ensure patient compliance, without which the study would not yield any useable information.

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Definitions:

Persuasive Messages

Communications intended to convince or influence the audience to take a specific action or adopt a particular viewpoint.

Writing Approach

The method or style adopted by a writer to convey their message or tell a story.

Close of Proposal

The final section of a proposal document where the summary and call-to-action are presented, aiming to persuade the reader.

Decision

The act or process of making choices or selecting an option from a set of alternatives.