

Sometimes patients given a simulated or otherwise medically ineffectual treatment will have a perceived or actual improvement in a medical condition, a phenomenon commonly called the placebo effect.The placebo effect can be produced by inert tablets, by sham surgery, and by false information, such as when electrical stimulation is turned 'off' in those with Parkinson's disease implanted brain electrodes. It is the variable that an experimenter measures to see whether the manipulation has an effect. In the design of an experiment, the dependent variable represents the output or effect.This is the variable that the experimenter manipulates. In the design of an experiment, the independent variable represents the input or cause.Double-blind describes an especially stringent way of conducting an experiment which attempts to eliminate subjective, unrecognized biases carried by both an experiment's subjects (usually human) and its conductors.A blind is an experiment in which information about the test is kept from the participant until after the test.Random assignment is an experimental technique for assigning human participants or animal subjects to different groups in an experiment by a chance procedure.


In an experiment, the control group is the group of participates who receive either no manipulation or a standard manipulation.In the design of experiments, the experimental group is the group of participants that receives the manipulation.

