> Active control groups control for the placebo/Hawthorne effect. Easier said than done: "Why Most Published Research Findings Are False" : http://www.plosmed

> Active control groups control for the placebo/Hawthorne effect. Easier said than done: "Why Most Published Research Findings Are False" : http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124 http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal... > As I see it, the only meaningful question is which methods work in practice ... That's a dodge around any requirement for scientific evidence, because without rigorous science, anything "works in practice". Astrology, as just one example -- many members of the public would be surprised and offended to hear that astrology has no evidentiary support whatever. When the studies you funded have been replicated by independent laboratories, then you will have crossed the threshold of science. Until then, it's not science, it's marketing -- especially when you think it's constructive to say, "the only meaningful question is which methods work in practice".