There is Cause to Randomize

Philosophy of Science 89 (1):152 - 170 (2022)
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Abstract

While practitioners think highly of randomized studies, some philosophers argue that there is no epistemic reason to randomize. Here I show that their arguments do not entail their conclusion. Moreover, I provide novel reasons for randomizing in the context of interventional studies. The overall discussion provides a unified framework for assessing baseline balance, one that holds for interventional and observational studies alike. The upshot: practitioners’ strong preference for randomized studies can be defended in some cases, while still offering a nuanced approach to evidence-appraisal, one where not all non-randomized studies are treated equally.

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Cristian Larroulet Philippi
Cambridge University

Citations of this work

Justifying Scientific Progress.Jacob Stegenga - 2024 - Philosophy of Science 91:543-560.
Fast Science.Jacob Stegenga - forthcoming - The British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.
A Hybrid Theory of Induction.Adrià Segarra - forthcoming - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science.

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References found in this work

Scientific reasoning: the Bayesian approach.Peter Urbach & Colin Howson - 1993 - Chicago: Open Court. Edited by Peter Urbach.
Medical Nihilism.Jacob Stegenga - 2018 - Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
What Evidence in Evidence‐Based Medicine?John Worrall - 2002 - Philosophy of Science 69 (S3):S316-S330.
Why There’s No Cause to Randomize.John Worrall - 2007 - British Journal for the Philosophy of Science 58 (3):451-488.

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