Abstract
Subtle behavioral characteristics are examined to explain the reluctance of physicians to promote randomized controlled trials and their willingness to accept therapeutic hypotheses that have not been adequately tested. These deterrents to instituting controlled trials include reverence for authority, reverence for tradition, a compulsion to treat, reluctance to surrender authority, fear, and the influence of uncontrolled pilot trials. Another behavioral pitfall is the tendency to be influenced by the quantity of data without regard to quality. (KIE abstract)
