Cartwright, Nancy (2011) A philosopher's view of the long road from RCTs to effectiveness. The Lancet, 377 (9775). pp. 1400-1401. ISSN 0140-6736
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
For evidence-based practice and policy, randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are the current gold standard. But exactly why? We know that RCTs do not, without a series of strong assumptions, warrant predictions about what happens in practice. But just what are these assumptions? I maintain that, from a philosophical stance, answers to both questions are obscured because we don't attend to what causal claims say. Causal claims entering evidence-based medicine at different points say different things and, I would suggest, failure to attend to these differences makes much current guidance about evidence for medical and social policy misleading.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/issue/cur... |
| Additional Information: | © 2011 Elsevier |
| Divisions: | Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method CPNSS |
| Subjects: | B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Jan 2011 10:28 |
| Last Modified: | 11 Dec 2024 23:52 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/31830 |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
