Randomization and statistical power: Paramount in trial reproducibility (even for rare Cancers)

摘要

Research in medicine and biology is not dictated by the laws of physics. The location of a celestial body can be determined with great accuracy with relatively simple series of equations, but multiple consistent observations are needed in medicine and biology to achieve what is considered a standard practice or a biological inference. Probability and statistics are the engines that guide these inferences. There is no escaping statistics, be it in the identification of the Higgs boson [1] or the identification of one treatment as better than another.