Testimonial

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A testimonial, in the context of evaluating a treatment or other medical or social intervention, is the report of an individual about the success or failure of such an intervention. It is generally considered the weakest level of evidence.

Usually, the reason for studying a particular treatment is to see if it would work on others. In order to achieve this end, it is necessary to study large numbers of people (a "sample"), ideally in similar circumstances, and who do not know whether or not they are receiving the treatment, after which, one can make a valid prediction as to the effect on a similar, larger "population".

The experience of one person, while often interesting, does not allow for generalization to others. The experiences of multiple people, as in a list of testimonials, is also invalid, as this is simply a list of individual stories, and not a systematic study.

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