control group
Untreated comparison set
A control group is the baseline in an experiment—participants who don't receive the treatment being tested.
Researchers compare outcomes between the control group and the experimental group to determine whether the treatment had any effect.
The control group received a placebo while the test group got the actual drug.
Without a control group, you can't know if changes resulted from the intervention or other factors.
Inactive therapeutic substitute
- randomizationIntroducing chance systematically
- blindingPainfully intense light
- clinical trialHuman subject research experiment
- double-blindNeither tester nor tested knows
subjects · participants · sample size · methodology · protocol · peer review · variables · outcomes
Standard for comparison
- benchmarkStandard for comparison
- referenceDirecting attention elsewhere
- standardLevel of quality accepted
- comparisonAssessment of similarities
untreated · unmedicated · sham · inactive · null hypothesis · statistical significance · difference · contrast
Not modified at all
- constantFixed, unvarying quantity
- stableSecure and unchanging
- unmodifiedWithout any changes
- maintainedKept in condition
unaffected · uninfluenced · isolated · neutral · inert · static · consistent · uniform
placebo
Inactive therapeutic substitute
- randomizationIntroducing chance systematically
- blindingPainfully intense light
- clinical trialHuman subject research experiment
double-blind · subjects · participants · sample size · methodology · protocol · peer review · variables · outcomes · hypothesis
baseline
Standard for comparison
- benchmarkStandard for comparison
- referenceDirecting attention elsewhere
- standardLevel of quality accepted
comparison · untreated · unmedicated · sham · inactive · null hypothesis · statistical significance · difference · contrast · measurement
unchanged
Not modified at all
- constantFixed, unvarying quantity
- stableSecure and unchanging
- unmodifiedWithout any changes
maintained · unaffected · uninfluenced · isolated · neutral · inert · static · consistent · uniform
- comparisonscomparison, compare, comparative, analogy, metaphor
- surveyspoll, polls, survey, surveys, questionnaire
- research methodsexperiment, hypothesis, deduction, experiments, induction
- research ethicsresearch ethics, bioethics, ethics board, ethics training, fabrication
- Research Groupspanel, cohort, respondents, participants, subjects
- science educationscience fair, science class, science teachers, science lab, science projects
control groupexperimental group
Participants receiving the treatment
treatment group · test group · study group · target group · placebo group
group, control, controller, controlled, controlling, self-control, controls, uncontrolled, controllable