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Randomized controlled trial

Research that uses chance to assign participants into study groups.

 

More info:

In a randomized controlled trial (RCT), the researchers use a computer program to randomly assign which study treatment each participant receives. The computer program sometimes also randomly chooses the order of the study treatment,
depending on the study.

The process of being randomized is sometimes described like “flipping a coin” or “pulling name out of a hat.” Randomization ensures that participants are put into different study groups fairly and without bias.

A randomized controlled trial is considered one of the best study designs to find out how well a study treatment works against one or more comparison groups.

If you are asked to participate in a randomized controlled trial, you may want to find out more about the different study groups, what the control group will be, and how participants will be randomized.