Category - Randomized Controlled Trial

Randomized Controlled Trial or (RCT) are design randomly assigns participants into an experimental group or a control group. As the study is being conducted, the only expected difference between the control and experimental groups in a randomized controlled trial (RCT) is the outcome variable being studied.

In this type of study, the participants are divided by chance into separate groups that compare different types of treatments or other interventions. Using the chance to divide people into groups, it means that the groups will be similar and that the effects of the treatments they receive can be compared more fairly. At the time of the trial though, it is not known which treatment is best.

Advantages: The advantages of an RTC is that:

It is way easier to blind/mask than from observational studies.
It provides good randomization which washes out any population bias.
The populations of participating individuals are clearly identified.
And the results can be analyzed with well known statistical tools.

Disadvantages: The disadvantages that an RTC have are:

Sadly it does not reveal causation.
It is expensive in time and money.
There is a loss to follow-up attributed to treatment.
And it is a volunteer bias in which the population that participates may not be representative of the whole.