Control-group meaning

The control group is defined as the group in an experiment or study that does not receive treatment by the researchers and is then used as a benchmark to measure how the other tested subjects do.

An example of a control group is the people in a clinical trial who do not get to try out the brand new drug that is being tested.

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A group used as a standard of comparison in a controlled experiment.
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(in an experiment) The group of test subjects left untreated or unexposed to some procedure and then compared with treated subjects in order to validate the results of the test.
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A group that serves as the control in a scientific experiment; specif., such a group that does not receive the substance, drug, treatment, etc. being tested.
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Sentence Examples

  • Make sure to include a control group in your experiment to ensure your data is valid. 

  • The participants had no way of knowing if they were in the control group or if they were using the experimental drug.

  • The control group took a placebo, while the experimental subjects took the drug that was being tested.

  • occlusal splints were significantly better than the untreated control group for two out of seven outcomes.

  • mineral density changes were compared with a control group of 15 untreated women.

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Words near control-group in the Dictionary