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by root 5303 days ago
If they were volunteers the study would have a very strong self selection bias and therefore not be scientific.
1 comments

That might be true for some studies, but the generalization is not correct. It depends on what is being studied.
Care to give an example where a study with strong self selection bias is still scientific?
Nearly every drug test. E.g., the researchers ask for volunteers suffering from condition X. Those volunteers are then tested with a new drug.

Why would you think the fact that the subjects are volunteers would affect this?