A randomized controlled trial (or randomized control trial; RCT) is a type of scientific (often medical) experiment that aims to reduce certain sources of bias when testing the effectiveness of new treatments; this is accomplished by randomly allocating subjects to two or more groups, treating them differently, and then comparing them with respect to a measured response. One group—the experimental group—has the intervention being assessed, while the other—usually called the control group—has an alternative condition, such as a placebo or no intervention. The groups are followed under conditions of the trial design to see how effective the experimental intervention was.Treatment efficacy is assessed in comparison to the control. There may be more than one treatment group or more than one control group. The trial may be blinded, in which information which may influence the participants is withheld until after the experiment is complete. A blind can be imposed on any participant of an experiment, including subjects, researchers, technicians, data analysts, and evaluators. Good blinding may reduce or eliminate some sources of experimental bias.
