Double-Blind Experiment
Updated 2026-08-11
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
In a double-blind experiment neither the participants nor the experimenters who run them know who is in the experimental group and who is in the control; randomization assigns the groups and the mapping is held by a third party until analysis. Its purpose is to remove two distortions at once, the placebo effect on the participant and the experimenter expectation effect on the person administering the treatment, so any observed difference is attributable to the treatment itself.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Randomize and hide: assign groups by chance and conceal the mapping. - Blind both sides: keep participants and administrators equally ignorant. - Pre-register: fix the analysis plan before any unblinding.
Anchor fast decisions
Expectation is causal rather than merely interpretive: a participant who expects relief improves, and an experimenter who expects an effect elicits it. Blinding removes the pathway from expectation to behavior for both parties at once, which is why a blinded null result carries information that an unblinded null does not.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- en.wikipedia.orghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blinded_experimentverified
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