Scientific control

For other uses, see Control and Treatment and control groups.
Take identical growing plants (Argyroxiphium sandwicense) and give fertilizer to half of them. If there are differences between the fertilized treatment and the unfertilized treatment, these differences may be due to the fertilizer as long as there weren't other confounding factors that affected the result. For example, if the fertilizer was spread by a tractor but no tractor was used on the unfertilized treatment, then the effect of the tractor needs to be controlled.

A scientific control is an experiment or observation designed to minimize the effects of variables other than the independent variable (i.e. confounding variables).[1] This increases the reliability of the results, often through a comparison between control measurements and the other measurements. Scientific controls are a part of the scientific method.

  1. ^ Life, Vol. II: Evolution, Diversity and Ecology: (Chs. 1, 21–33, 52–57). W. H. Freeman. 2006. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-7167-7674-1. Retrieved 14 February 2015.