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Academic English & Research vocabulary · Research Design

Control group

Meaning in academic english & research, with examples

nounCore term

In academic english & research, control group means: A group of participants in an experiment who do not receive the treatment being tested, so that their results can be compared with those who do.

In Turkish: kontrol grubu

How it is used

Paired with the experimental (or treatment) group. Ideally, participants are randomly assigned to groups. A control group may receive nothing, a placebo, or the usual treatment or teaching method.

Example sentences

  1. The control group continued with the standard curriculum.

  2. Scores in the experimental group rose significantly more than in the control group.

Common collocations

  • experimental and control groups
  • assign to the control group
  • compared with the control group
  • waitlist control group
  • variableAny characteristic, such as age, income or test score, that can take different values and is measured, controlled or changed in a study.
  • hypothesisA testable statement that predicts a relationship or outcome, which a study then supports or fails to support with evidence.
  • random samplingA way of choosing a sample in which every member of the population has an equal and known chance of being selected.
  • quantitativeDescribing research that collects numerical data and uses statistics to measure, compare or test relationships, often with larger samples.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Research Design

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