In a medication study, what is the term for the group that is given a placebo?

In a medication study, the group that receives a placebo is referred to as the control group. This group is essential for establishing a baseline to compare the effects of the treatment given to the other participants. By administering a placebo to the control group, researchers can determine if the treatment has a genuine impact or if the observed effects are simply due to participants' expectations or other psychological factors.

The treatment group, on the other hand, is the group that receives the actual medication or intervention, and their outcomes are compared against those of the control group to assess the effectiveness of the treatment. The dependent variable represents the outcomes measured in the study, while the independent variable is the factor that is manipulated or changed by the researchers, which, in this case, would be the medication administered to the treatment group.