Lelia Duley is an Obstetric Epidemiologist at the Institute of Health Sciences in Oxford, UK.

• Contributors. Foreword.Preface.Acknowledgements.Comparing like with like and the development of randomisation.Why we need randomised controlled trials.Keeping track of trial reports; the experience of The Cochrane Trials Register.What have we learned from 50 years of randomised trials for people with schizophrenia.Big is still beautiful: why we still need large simple trials.Factors that limit the number, quality and progress of randomised trials.The nuts and bolts of doing trials.Building resources for randomised trials.The role of data monitoring committees.Bayesian perspectives on the ethics of trials."Empowering" patient choice about participation in trials?.Index