Double-Blind Design

Double-blind design refers to an experimental methodology with treatment and control groups where neither participants nor researchers, including investigators and outcome assessors alike, know who belongs to the treatment group and who belongs to the control group. This entry describes inconsistencies in blinding terminology, the use of double-blind design in randomized controlled trials, and the importance of the double-blind design in minimizing biases.

Blinding is used in various study designs but is most often associated with randomized controlled trials. Double-blind designs are used to minimize participant and researcher biases, which threaten the validity of a research study. Due to ambiguity in blinding terminology, researchers are encouraged to specifically report which individuals remain blind in a given study.

Blinding terminology varies across researchers, journals, and textbooks, leading to ...

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