Randomized Controlled Trials

1354 Words3 Pages

There are some key distinctions between Randomized Controlled Trials (RCT) in a psychotherapeutic context and a medical context. There are key differences between the design of an RCT to evaluate a new drug and an RCT to evaluate a new form of couples’ therapy. However, it is important to begin by defining and understanding the importance of RCT in research (O'Brien, 2013).
O'Brien (2013) defines RCT as a research technique that has been through the ages. It first was applied in medical studies. Today, it is a quantitative method widely used in clinical trials where participants answer or confirm a research question. Clinical trials that are designed with RCT in a medical context focus on prioritizing the protecting of human participants with the aid of ethical criteria; however, at the discretion of the researcher (O'Brien, 2013).
Randomized Controlled Trials can be used to in several types of evaluations, including new therapies (i.e. Cognitive behavioral therapy versus emotionally focused therapy when treating couples), community interventions, and diagnostic techniques (O'Brien, 2013). The RCT study design randomly assigns participants into an experimental group or a control group. As the study is conducted, the only expected difference between the control and experimental groups is the outcome variable being studied (O'Brien, 2013).
There are advantages to using RCT, firstly, there the effect of using randomization will “wash out” any population bias and it is easier to blind than observational studies (O'Brien, 2013). The results can be analyzed with reliable statistical tools and the participants can be clearly identified (O'Brien, 2013). The disadvantage of this method is that it is often expensive and time cons...

... middle of paper ...

...ed clinical trials: part 1-the efficacy of psychosocial interventions for male sexual dysfunction. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 9(12), 3089-3107. doi:10.1111/j.1743-6109.2012.02970.x
Clinical Research. (2013). TCPS 2—2nd edition of Tri-Council Policy Statement:
Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans. Retrieved from http://www.ethics.gc.ca/eng/policy-politique/initiatives/tcps2-eptc2/chapter11-chapitre11/
Dunne, R. L., Kenardy, J., & Sterling, M. (2012). A randomized controlled trial of cognitive-behavioral therapy for the treatment of PTSD in the context of chronic whiplash. Clinical Journal of Pain, 28(9), 755–765.
O'Brien, D. (2009). Randomized controlled trials (RCTs). In R. Mullner (Ed.), Encyclopedia of health services research. (pp. 1017-1021). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org.proxy1.ncu.edu/10.4135/9781412971942

Open Document