negative control

Expected null result

In scientific experiments, a negative control is a test group that receives no treatment or a known inactive substance, establishing a baseline for comparison.

If the negative control shows no effect, researchers can be confident that any effect in the experimental group comes from the treatment itself rather than other factors: The saline injection served as a negative control.

Related

untreated · wild type · benchmark · null · standard · validation · comparison · saline · distilled water · buffer · calibration · false positive · background · reference · sham · inert · vehicle · assay

Opposites
experimental control type

negative controlpositive control

Known-outcome experimental reference

reference standard · calibrator

experimental sample role

negative controltest sample

analyte · specimen

experimental role

negative controltest sample

experimental group · treatment group · test subject

Family

negative, negatively, negativity, negate, negation, negating, negated, negator, control

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