> Gold standard. In the domains of psychological and psychiatric assessment, there are precious few, if any, genuine "gold standards." Essentially all measures, even those with high levels of validity for their intended purposes, are necessarily fallible indicators of their respective constructs.
The reason we refer to double blind trials as being the "gold standard" isn't to imply that they have some level of validity, but because they were popularized by Harry Gold.
The reason this list exists is to discourage phrases that are, among other things, misunderstood. So your argument that people don't understand the reference simply strengthens the case against using the phrase.
The reason we refer to double blind trials as being the "gold standard" isn't to imply that they have some level of validity, but because they were popularized by Harry Gold.