What is a placebo, and why is it important in an experiment to test the effectiveness of a drug?
What is a placebo?
A.
A placebo refers to a specific member of a sample from which data are collected.
B.
A placebo refers to a situation in which a patient improves simply because they believe they are receiving a useful treatment.
C.
A placebo refers to any problem in the design or conduct of a statistical study that tends to favor certain results.
D.
A placebo is physically similar to a treatment, but it lacks any active ingredients, so it should not by itself produce any effects.