Quote:
Originally Posted by Acleron
BillyJoe, your protocol should work with one proviso.
The two groups, treated and placebo, will have to be matched. For example, it would not be a fair test if the treatment group contained a smaller proportion of self-limiting conditions. Another problem with ill-matched groups would be the duration of treatment and end-point of the test for success or failure. Dana Ullman says that there are certain disease states where an identical homeopathic treatment can be indicated. Perhaps these could lead to a more powerful test.
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The main complaint from homeopaths regarding the DBRCT is that it interferes in the all important relationship between the practitioner and the patient. This protocol, as a number one priority, attempts to avoid interfering at all in this relationship. If there are sufficient numbers of patients and the allocation of patients to the remedy and placebo groups is genuinely random, the differences should even out, shouldn't they?
If not, then it is just as likely to favour the placebo as the remedy group, so we would have to run the test maybe 20 times (perhaps with twenty different homeopaths) and statistically work out what a significant difference would be.