What is Blind experiment?
A '''blind''' or '''blinded experiment''' is a [[experiment|test or experiment]] in where the experimenter does not know which treatment is given to a [[subject]]. The idea is to avoid [[bias]] which the experimenter might otherwise introduce.<ref>Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed.</ref> If both tester and subject are blinded, the trial is a '''double-blind trial'''. Suppose consumers are asked to compare the tastes of different brands of a product. Obviously, the identities of the product should be hidden – otherwise consumers tend to prefer the brand they are familiar with. Similarly, when testing a [[pharmaceutical]] [[drug]], both patients and experimenter should not know the dosage being given in each case. The opposite of a blind trial is an open trial. The terms '''blind''' ([[adjective]]) or '''to blind''' ([[transitive verb]]) when used in this sense are figurative extensions of the literal idea of [[blindfold]]ing someone. == Examples == Blind experiments went on to be used outside of purely scientific settings. In 1817, a committee of scientists and musicians compared a [[Stradivarius]] violin to one with a guitar-like design made by the naval engineer François Chanot. A well-known violinist played each instrument while the committee listened in the next room to avoid [[prejudice]].<ref> {{cite book|last=Fétis|first=François-Joseph|year=1868|title=Biographie universelle des musiciens et bibliographie générale de la musique, Tome 1|place= 2nd ed, Paris|publisher=Firmin Didot Frères, Fils et Cie |page=249|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UEMQAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA249|access-date=2011-07-21}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Dubourg|first=George|year=1852|title=The Violin: some account of that leading instrument and its most eminent professors... |place= 4th ed, London|publisher=Robert Cocks|pages=356–357|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ybY3AQAAIAAJ&pg=PA356|access-date=2011-07-21}}</ref> One of the first essays advocating a blinded approach to experiments in general came from [[Claude Bernard]]