Re:The First Randomized Controlled Trial on Vitamin D and Co...
by mlyle on Thursday September 03, 2020 @08:09PM
(#24370318)
You have to get very, very unlucky on the dice rolls to get samples that are so tilted-- to pick 26 people out of 76, and somehow come up with 13/14 of those requiring ICU in the smaller group, if vitamin D has no effect. Outside of deliberate rigging... (it might even be difficult to deliberately sort and get this much of an imbalance).
Indeed, checking that the two groups look similar after randomization is completely optional. This study does an OK job of doing so.
There's both known and unknown reasons why someone might be predisposed to have a bad outcome. The reason we randomize, rather than try and make "balanced" groups, is that it addresses both unknown and known factors.
Yes, you can, by chance, get more people who are going to have a bad outcome in one group; about 5% of the time you'll get a p<0.05 finding this way. :P
Indeed, checking that the two groups look similar after randomization is completely optional. This study does an OK job of doing so.
There's both known and unknown reasons why someone might be predisposed to have a bad outcome. The reason we randomize, rather than try and make "balanced" groups, is that it addresses both unknown and known factors.
Yes, you can, by chance, get more people who are going to have a bad outcome in one group; about 5% of the time you'll get a p<0.05 finding this way. :P