controlled experiments
Systematic comparative trials
Controlled experiments are tests designed to isolate the effect of a single variable by keeping all other conditions constant.
One group receives the treatment being studied while a control group does not, allowing researchers to attribute any differences to the variable in question: The controlled experiment showed that the new fertilizer doubled crop yield.
The method is fundamental to scientific research, though not always possible—you can't run controlled experiments on historical events or ethical violations.
- scientific methodStructured process for investigation
- randomizationIntroducing chance systematically
- random assignmentAllocation determined by chance
- p-valueProbability under null hypothesis
- laboratory equipmentTools for scientific work
lab rats · test tube · dependent variable · clinical trials · treatment group · agricultural research · replication · placebo effect · blinding · blind study · null hypothesis · cause and effect · hypothesis testing · data integrity · statistical significance · standard deviation · correlation coefficient · confounding variables
- research methodshypothesis, deduction, induction, scientific method, research methods
- scientific methodtheory, data, hypothesis, observation, prediction
controlled experimentsanecdotal evidence
Support from individual accounts
intuition · speculation · hearsay · gut feeling · guesswork
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