The NIH is funding a trial for a new antidepressant drug. A sample of 1000 people with severe depression are recruited and, at baseline, are given a questionnaire asking about their demographic characteristics and their mental health. They are then randomly assigned to one of two groups. The treatment group receives the new antidepressant, a pill that must be taken twice a day. The control group receives a placebo pill containing nothing medically active, which must also be taken twice a day. After 10 weeks, researche
The NIH is funding a trial for a new antidepressant drug. A sample of 1000 people with severe depression are recruited and, at baseline, are given a questionnaire asking about their demographic characteristics and their mental health. They are then randomly assigned to one of two groups. The treatment group receives the new antidepressant, a pill that must be taken twice a day. The control group receives a placebo pill containing nothing medically active, which must also be taken twice a day. After 10 weeks,
researchers locate the individuals and ask them to fill out a questionnaire again assessing their mental health. At the end of the study, researchers find no statistically significant difference in the mental health of the treatment and control groups.
Question: If these 1000 people lived in 1000 different cities, would spillovers be a concern? If these 1000 people all lived in Arlington, VA, would spillovers be a concern? Explain as specifically as you can how spillovers might cause such underestimation of the true impact of the drug.
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