Para 1- debate regarding the efficacy of standard clinical trials - 2 groups - For and against
Para 2- G&L(Group 2-against) - criticisms of standard clinical trials
Para 3- criticisms of standard clinical trials
Para 4- Gimley and Lebsmith propose a way
Took almost 8 mins, including 4 mins to read. All correct.
1. What is the primary purpose of this passage?
A. To evaluate and survey diverse opinions on the current state of a field - Incorrect
B. To point out an oversight in the work of two scholars - Incorrect - no oversight is mentioned
C. To discuss a field of inquiry and several ways in which that field can be improved - Incorrect - what we have here is more than discussion and only way to improve the standard method is suggested
D. To describe a current debate and the analysis of specific researchers - Correct - the debate on the efficacy of standard clinical trials and analysis of G&L
E. To assess the effect the work of two scholars has had in their field - Incorrect
2. Which of the hypothetical trials best parallels a shortcoming in clinical trials as described by Gimley and Lebsmith?
A. A subset of patients displays a slightly negative reaction to a drug, but that outcome is masked by the majority of subjects’ responses, which are neither positive nor negative. - Incorrect - slightly negative reaction makes this incorrect
even if a drug can exercise a marked effect on a subset of subjects within a trial, this information will be lost in the statistical noise.
B. A drug exercises a strong negative effect on a subgroup but this effect is masked by the majority of subjects’ responses, which are neither positive nor negative. - Correct
C. The majority of patients in a trial exhibit a negative effect to a drug, yet the fact that a few subjects exhibited a positive effect diminishes the intensity of the negative effect. - Incorrect - if majority exhibits negative effect , then we can't say that it's a noise
D. A trial targeting a particular genetic subtype struggles to recruit enough subjects to establish that an observed effect of a drug would be valid across a larger population. - Incorrect
E. Several subjects in a trial exhibited positive effects from a drug used during an initial phase of an experiment, but once another drug was substituted for the drug used in the initial phase, those patients failed to exhibit any positive effects. - Incorrect
Answer B
3. It can be most reasonably inferred that those on the side of the debate endorsing standard medical trials are likely to believe which of the following?
C. The most effective method of gathering information concerning pharmacogenetics will not be without flaws. - Correct
practitioners who maintain that such trials,
despite admitted shortcomings, still represent the best means we have for learning about the effects of pharmaceutical drugs on the human body
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