Characteristics of a useful research question

Both of these definitions are helpful in the present context. The first is a more general one, and relates to the observation that, if a person is given a substance containing no medication, but that person believes that the substance will have a beneficial therapeutic effect, it is not unusual that improvement may be seen in the person s condition. The second definition is a particularly relevant definition in the context of this book, and the term placebo will be used extensively in later chapters. 

7 The drug treatment group and the placebo treatment group 

The terms drug treatment group and placebo treatment group will become very familiar to you as you work your way through this book. Chapter 4 provides more detail, but it is helpful at this point to comment briefly on the following aspect of certain preapproval clinical trials. 

A key point to note is that individuals receiving the placebo treatment often show a small improvement in the condition that is the focus of the trial. In some instances, such as studies of antidepressants and analgesics, improvement is self-reported by the individuals themselves and can often be marked. In addition, improvement among individuals can be 

A good clue as to how we can devise a better research question comes from the discussions that we have just had about the comparative nature of these trials, in which the effect of the investigational drug is compared with the effect of the placebo. Based on these discussions an improved research question can be phrased as 

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It needs to be specific (this is the same as the first characteristic of a useful research question - see Section 3.3). 

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