What Is a placebo

What Is a placebo A placebo is a procedure or substance with no inherent medicinal value. Placebos are often used in statistical experiments, especially those involving pharmaceutical testing, in order to control the experiment as much as possible. We will examine the structure of experiments and see the reasons for using a placebo. Experiments Experiments typically involve two different groups: an experimental group and a control group. The members of the control group do not receive the experimental treatment and the experimental group does. In this way, we are able to compare the responses of members in both groups. Any differences that we observe in the two groups may be due to the experimental treatment. But how can we be sure? How do we really know if an observed difference in a response variable is the result of an experimental treatment? These questions address the presence of lurking variables. These kinds of variables influence the response variable but are often hidden. When dealing with experiments involving human subjects we should always be on the lookout for lurking variables. A careful design of our experiment will limit the effects of lurking variables. Placebos are one way to do this. Use of Placebos Humans can be difficult to work with as subjects for an experiment. The knowledge that one is a subject of an experiment and a member of a control group can affect certain responses. The act of receiving a medication from a doctor or nurse has a powerful psychological effect on some individuals. When someone thinks they are being given something that will produce a certain response, sometimes they will exhibit this response. Because of this, sometimes doctors will prescribe placeboes with therapeutic intent, and they can be effective treatments for some issues.   To mitigate any psychological effects of the subjects, a placebo can be given to the members of the control group. In this way, every subject of the experiment, in both the control and experimental groups, will have a similar experience of receiving what they think is medication from a health professional. This also has the added benefit of not revealing to the subject if he or she is in the experimental or control group. Types of Placebos A placebo is designed to be as close to the means of administration of the experimental treatment as possible. Thus placebos can take on a variety of forms. In the testing of a new pharmaceutical drug, a placebo might be a capsule with an inert substance. This substance would be chosen to have no medicinal value and is sometimes referred to as a sugar pill. It is important that the placebo mimic the experimental treatment as closely as possible. This controls the experiment by providing a common experience for everyone, no matter which group they are in. If a surgical procedure is the treatment for the experimental group, then a placebo for the members of the control group could take the form of a faked surgery. The subject would go through all of the preparation and believe that he or she was operated on, without the surgical procedure actually being performed.

Overnight Success

Overnight Success â€Å"One press account said I was an overnight success. I thought that was the longest night Ive ever spent.†Ã‚   – Sandra Cisneros Lannan Literary Award for Fiction MacArthur Fellowship American Book Awards Anisfield-Wolf Book Award Im not whats considered a huge, box-office or New York Times Bestseller success, but I do fairly well for myself as a writer and novelist. Ive found a comfort zone in balancing my craft, business, and family. Every so often, someone whos just discovered me asks how I became successful. I can give them the twenty-year version with all its twists, turns, sidesteps and walls, or the blurb about being diligent and ever trying to improve. Someone invariably says I was lucky. Someone will tell me FundsforWriters opened doors for my books, which the average person doesnt have. Some wonder who I knew who gave me a leg up. Some say I must be healthy, not have family problems, or not have to really work outside writing to pay the bills. So many think what I have cannot be achieved And I completely disagree. When writers begin writing, they are accountable to no one but themselves, writing in secret. When they begin publishing, they earn some small degree of spotlight but it will at some time feel its not worth the effort. When they publish regularly, readers suddenly learn their name. Those writers are new blips on readers radar, and No writer is an overnight success. Discovery helps to a certain degree: discovery So when you are tempted to say someone was an overnight success, check yourself. Its almost disrespectful. Writers, as well as entrepreneurs, actors, athletes, and academics, travel a long road to reach success. And you are not excluded from that potential for yourself. Take count of your efforts in the year going out, then project how to improve them in the new. Sometimes thats all it takes . . . the acceptance that every foot in front of the other needs to be uphill, with each year a stronger, more focused journey than the one before. The beginning of overnight success.