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Originally Posted by StephenK
But you then have to account for those being studied... Bruce mentioned a study that was focused on the placebo effect. Cancer patients were split
into two groups with half being given chemo treatments and the other half placebos. Roughly a third of those given the placebo experienced the actual
symptoms of chemo... including "hair loss" and the usual nausea... even though no actual chemicals were involved... the patient "believed deeply" and
so they created... double blind may work with inanimate objects but conscious beings weave their own tales... and these interior story lines can often ripple
outward, thus becoming observable components...
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In a double blind study though, the placebo effect is lessened because the subject doesn't know if he's getting the drug or the placebo. The researcher doesn't know either, thus the 'double' blind.
If I was going to test a healing method, I'd do it on people that don't believe it will work. Hopefully they'd be so skeptical that even signs of improvement wouldn't cause them to believe.