Defining the Treatment Effect

Abstract

In this book we will use the term “signal” to define the summary variable which, at a group level and in comparative terms, is used to formulate the hypothesis to be tested, in order to evaluate the effect of the experimental treatment under study. It should be noted that in clinical research the term signal is often used with a different meaning, to indicate an increased frequency of a given adverse event in the experimental treatment group over the control group, to the extent that the adverse event is suspected to be causally related to the experimental treatment. In this book we will use this term in the literal sense of “a sign to convey a command, direction, or warning” (Webster’s New World Dictionary, [103]).