Somik Raha

Double-blind randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are viewed as the golden standard of drug research in Western medicine. However, RCTs are far from “golden” in many respects. They are impractical for many therapies, such as for surgeries and complex lifestyle changes. They encourage a one-size-fits-all approach to medical treatment that fails to address the huge diversity among individual patients in terms of their physical and emotional symptoms, social and cultural upbringing, and other… 展开

Double-blind randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are viewed as the golden standard of drug research in Western medicine. However, RCTs are far from “golden” in many respects. They are impractical for many therapies, such as for surgeries and complex lifestyle changes. They encourage a one-size-fits-all approach to medical treatment that fails to address the huge diversity among individual patients in terms of their physical and emotional symptoms, social and cultural upbringing, and other factors. Perhaps, more importantly, they do not help doctors make the best medical decisions required to produce optimal patient outcomes. To guide a search for an alternate model of medical research, three principles based on Ayurveda, an ancient and powerful system of health care that has stood the test of time, are presented. These principles, arrived at after mining Ayurvedic epistemology, are: Inductive learning, whole systems thinking, and individually optimized therapy. In honor of the ancient sages or “Rishis,” whose voice is used to deliver Ayurvedic knowledge in the ancient texts of Ayurveda, these are referred to as the “Rishi principles.” Common research methodologies are examined for embodiment of these principles. 收起

Many have documented the difficulty of using the current paradigm of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) to test and validate the effectiveness of alternative medical systems such as Ayurveda. This paper critiques the applicability of RCTs for all clinical knowledge-seeking endeavors, of which Ayurveda research is a part. This is done by examining statistical hypothesis testing, the underlying foundation of RCTs, from a practical and philosophical perspective. In the philosophical critique, the… 展开

Many have documented the difficulty of using the current paradigm of Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) to test and validate the effectiveness of alternative medical systems such as Ayurveda. This paper critiques the applicability of RCTs for all clinical knowledge-seeking endeavors, of which Ayurveda research is a part. This is done by examining statistical hypothesis testing, the underlying foundation of RCTs, from a practical and philosophical perspective. In the philosophical critique, the two main worldviews of probability are that of the Bayesian and the frequentist. The frequentist worldview is a special case of the Bayesian worldview requiring the unrealistic assumptions of knowing nothing about the universe and believing that all observations are unrelated to each other. Many have claimed that the first belief is necessary for science, and this claim is debunked by comparing variations in learning with different prior beliefs. Moving beyond the Bayesian and frequentist worldviews, the notion of hypothesis testing itself is challenged on the grounds that a hypothesis is an unclear distinction, and assigning a probability on an unclear distinction is an exercise that does not lead to clarity of action. This critique is of the theory itself and not any particular application of statistical hypothesis testing. A decision-making frame is proposed as a way of both addressing this critique and transcending ideological debates on probability. An example of a Bayesian decision-making approach is shown as an alternative to statistical hypothesis testing, utilizing data from a past clinical trial that studied the effect of Aspirin on heart attacks in a sample population of doctors. As a big reason for the prevalence of RCTs in academia is legislation requiring it, the ethics of legislating the use of statistical methods for clinical research is also examined. 收起

Decision analysis is the pursuit of clarity of action, and lies at the intersection of action and thought. Before moving to clarity of action, we need to achieve clarity of thought on our values so that we can make decisions that are consistent with our deepest values. This dissertation focuses on helping decision-makers achieve such clarity by suggesting frameworks to discover, appreciate and communicate sources of value. Apart from the theoretical contributions, several case studies are… 展开

Decision analysis is the pursuit of clarity of action, and lies at the intersection of action and thought. Before moving to clarity of action, we need to achieve clarity of thought on our values so that we can make decisions that are consistent with our deepest values. This dissertation focuses on helping decision-makers achieve such clarity by suggesting frameworks to discover, appreciate and communicate sources of value. Apart from the theoretical contributions, several case studies are presented to illustrate the use of such methods to achieve consistent valuation and aid mutual understanding on value. 收起

In pair programming, two programmers traditionally work side-by-side at one computer. However, in globally distributed organizations, long-distance collaboration is frequently necessary. Sangam is an Eclipse plug-in that allows Eclipse users in different locations to share a workspace so that they may work as if they were using the same computer. In this paper, we discuss the Sangam plug-in, and our experience developing it via distributed and collocated pair programming.