This needs to be placebo-controlled in order to support their interpretation that it's a result of the pathogen. A rival interpretation would be that people who get the vaccine believe themselves to be safer than before, and therefore are willing to engage in more social interactions because they feel more comfortable in those settings.
You could tell people "we want to know how people respond to flu shots, so we're going to give you two shots, one on September 1 and one on October 1, and either the first will be a saline solution and the second will be the flu shot, or the first will be the flu shot and the second will be a saline solution; either way, you'll be vaccinated against the seasonal flu by October".
(You could also have a control group where you don't give any shots at all, and don't claim to have given any.)
3 comments
[ 2.7 ms ] story [ 14.6 ms ] thread(You could also have a control group where you don't give any shots at all, and don't claim to have given any.)