control group

Biology

(noun)

a group that contains every feature of the experimental group except it is not given the manipulation that is hypothesized

Related Terms

  • hypothesis
  • scientific method
Statistics

(noun)

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

Related Terms

  • placebo

Examples of control group in the following topics:

  • Statistical Literacy

    • Two groups of rats were tested.
    • Both groups were injected with chemicals known to increase the chance of liver cancer.
    • The experimental group was fed saffron (n = 24) whereas the control group was not (n = 8).
    • Only 4 of the 24 subjects in the saffron group developed cancer as compared to 6 of the 8 subjects in the control group.
    • What method could be used to test whether this difference between the experimental and control groups is statistically significant?
  • Random Assignment of Subjects

    • Random assignment helps eliminate the differences between the experimental group and the control group.
    • Random assignment, or random placement, is an experimental technique used to assign subjects either to different treatments or to a control group (no treatment).
    • Consider an experiment with one treatment group and one control group.
    • If the experimenter were to assign all of the blue-eyed people to the treatment group and the brown-eyed people to the control group, the results may turn out to be biased.
    • If there are differences between the fertilized plant group and the unfertilized "control" group, these differences may be due to the fertilizer.
  • Statistical Controls

    • For example, during drug testing, scientists will try to control two groups to keep them as identical as possible, then allow one group to try the drug.
    • Negative controls are groups where no phenomenon is expected.
    • To continue with the example of drug testing, a negative control is a group that has not been administered the drug.
    • We would say that the control group should show a negative or null effect.
    • Positive controls are groups where a phenomenon is expected.
  • Informal Means of Control

    • Informal social control refers to the reactions of individuals and groups that bring about conformity to norms and laws.
    • As with formal controls, informal controls reward or punish acceptable or unacceptable behavior.
    • Informal controls are varied and differ from individual to individual, group to group, and society to society.
    • Informal social control—the reactions of individuals and groups that bring about conformity to norms and laws—includes peer and community pressure, bystander intervention in a crime, and collective responses such as citizen patrol groups.
    • Informal controls differ from individual to individual, group to group, and society to society.
  • Informal Social Control

    • Social control refers to societal processes that regulate individual and group behaviour in an attempt to gain conformity.
    • Social control refers to societal and political mechanisms that regulate individual and group behaviour in an attempt to gain conformity and compliance to the rules of a given society, state, or social group.
    • Sociologists identify two basic forms of social control - informal control and formal control.
    • Formal social control typically involves the state.
    • Informal social control has the potential to have a greater impact on an individual than formal control.
  • Sanctions

    • As opposed to forms of internal control, like norms and values, sociologists consider sanctions a form of external control.
    • Internal controls are a form of social control that we impose on ourselves.
    • With informal sanctions, ridicule or ostracism can cause a straying individual to realign behavior toward group norms.
    • Informal controls are varied and differ from individual to individual, group to group, and society to society.
    • To maintain control and regulate their subjects, groups, organizations, and societies of various kinds can promulgate rules that act as formal sanctions to reward or punish behavior.
  • Primary Groups

    • A primary group is typically a small social group whose members share close, personal, enduring relationships.
    • A primary group is a group in which one exchanges implicit items, such as love, caring, concern, support, etc.
    • Examples of these would be family groups, love relationships, crisis support groups, and church groups.
    • He, therefore, analyzed the operation of such complex social forms as formal institutions and social class systems and the subtle controls of public opinion.
    • Examples of these would be family groups, love relationships, crisis support groups, and church groups.
  • The illusion of control

    • Humans often have a strong desire to feel in control – so much so that acquiring a feeling of control is usually deemed essential for survival.
    • (Mlodinow, Leonard, ‘The Limits of Control', The International Herald Tribune) In an academic study of elderly nursing home residents, for example, a group of individuals was told that it could decide how their rooms were decorated and that each person had a choice over what type of plant he or she could have (the subjects were also told that they were responsible for caring for the plant).
    • A second group had everything done for them.
    • Eighteen months later, 15% of the subjects in the first group had died compared with 30% in the second group.
    • Few people enjoy the company of control freaks, for instance, and having one person in a group (or business) make every decision often results in the group being vulnerable to bad choices – particularly when it comes to money.
  • Conflict

    • During war, one army tries to gain control over available resources in order to prevent the opposing army from gaining control.
    • Resources are scarce and individuals naturally fight to gain control of them.
    • Social groups will use resources to their own advantage in the pursuit of their goals, frequently leading powerful groups to take advantage of less powerful groups.
    • Thus, any gain for group A is automatically a loss for group B.
    • The idea that those who have control will maintain control is called the Matthew Effect.
  • Control Theory

    • Control theory explains that societal institutions without strong control of society can result in deviant behavior.
    • According to Travis Hirschi, norms emerge to deter deviant behavior, leading to conformity and groups.
    • People will conform to a group when they believe they have more to gain from conformity than by deviance.
    • Decentralized control, or market control, is typically maintained through factors such as price, competition, or market share.
    • An example of mixed control is clan control, which contains both centralized and decentralized control.
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