Randomized experiment: Difference between revisions

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The oldest controlled experiments appears to have been suggested in the Old Testament's Book of Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar proposed that some Israelites eat "a daily amount of food and wine from the king's table." Daniel preferred a vegetarian diet, but the official was concerned that the king would "see you looking worse than the other young men your age? The king would then have my head because of you."

Daniel then proposed the following controlled experiment: "Test your servants for ten days. Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then compare our appearance with that of the young men who eat the royal food, and treat your servants in accordance with what you see” (Daniel 1, 12– 13)<ref>{{cite bookjournal

| last = AngristNeuhauser

| first = JoshuaD

| coauthors = Diaz, M

| author2 = Pischke Jörn-Steffen

| title = Mastering 'MetricsDaniel: Theusing Paththe from CauseBible to Effectteach quality improvement methods

| journal = Quality and Safety in Health Care 2004

| publisher = Princeton University Press

| yearvolume = 201413

| pageissue = 312

| pages = 153-155

| year = 2004

| url = http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1743807/pdf/v013p00153.pdf

| doi = 10.1136/qshc.2003.009480

}}</ref>.