randomized controlled trial
nounA fair test where people are put into groups by chance to see which treatment works best.
The doctors used a randomized controlled trial to find out if the new medicine helped sick children.
OTHER MEANINGS
2. A research design in which participants are randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group to compare outcomes.
The randomized controlled trial showed that the drug reduced symptoms better than the placebo.
3. The gold-standard method used in medicine to test whether a treatment truly causes improvement.
Before approving the vaccine, regulators reviewed data from a large randomized controlled trial.
4. A study where chance, not choice, decides who receives the treatment, helping remove bias.
Because assignment was random, the randomized controlled trial gave trustworthy results.