A pharmaceutical company wants to test the effectiveness of a new allergy drug. The company identifies 250 females ages 30 to 35 who suffer from severe allergies. The subjects are randomly assigned into two groups. One group is given the drug and the other is given a placebo that looks exactly like the drug. After six months, the subjects’ symptoms are studied and compared.
(a) Identify the experimental units and treatments used in this experiment.
(b) Identify a potential problem with the experimental design being used and suggest a way to improve it.
(c) How could this experiment be designed to be double-blind?