Treatment and control groups

For a Linux kernel feature governing computing resources, see cgroups.

In the design of experiments, treatments are applied to experimental units in the treatment group(s).[1] In comparative experiments, members of the complementary group, the control group, receive either no treatment or a standard treatment.[2]

For the conclusions drawn from the results of an experiment to have validity, it is essential that the items or patients assigned to treatment and control groups be representative of the same population.[3] In some experiments, such as many in agriculture[4] or psychology,[5][6][7] this can be achieved by randomly assigning items from a common population to one of the treatment and control groups.[1] In studies of twins involving just one treatment group and a control group, it is statistically efficient to do this random assignment separately for each pair of twins, so that one is in the treatment group and one in the control group.

In some medical studies, where it may be unethical not to treat patients who present with symptoms, controls may be given a standard treatment, rather than no treatment at all.[2] Another alternative is to select controls from a wider population, provided that this population is well-defined and that those presenting with symptoms at the clinic are representative of those in the wider population.[3]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Hinkelmann, Klaus; Kempthorne, Oscar (2008). Design and Analysis of Experiments, Volume I: Introduction to Experimental Design (2nd ed.). Wiley. ISBN 978-0-471-72756-9. MR 2363107.
  2. 1 2 Bailey, R. A. (2008). Design of comparative experiments. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-68357-9. MR 2422352.
  3. 1 2 Everitt, B.S. (2002) The Cambridge Dictionary of Statistics, CUP. ISBN 0-521-81099-X (entry for control group)
  4. ↑ Neyman, Jerzy (1990) [1923], Dabrowska, Dorota M.; Speed, Terence P., eds., "On the application of probability theory to agricultural experiments: Essay on principles (Section 9)", Statistical Science 5 (4): 465–472, doi:10.1214/ss/1177012031, MR 1092986
  5. ↑ Ian Hacking (September 1988). "Telepathy: Origins of Randomization in Experimental Design". Isis (A Special Issue on Artifact and Experiment) 79 (3): 427–451. doi:10.1086/354775.
  6. ↑ Stephen M. Stigler (November 1992). "A Historical View of Statistical Concepts in Psychology and Educational Research". American Journal of Education 101 (1): 60–70. doi:10.1086/444032.
  7. ↑ Trudy Dehue (December 1997). "Deception, Efficiency, and Random Groups: Psychology and the Gradual Origination of the Random Group Design". Isis 88 (4): 653–673. doi:10.1086/383850. PMID 9519574.


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