History Main / NoControlGroup

* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1765 SCP-1765]] are three near godlike beings who run experiments on the trapped staff members of Site-37. The base was split into four sections. Three are basically given various forms of torture, while the fourth is left as a "control group," unharmed by the experiments. Considering these experiments include "throw fireballs at the scientists while they run away" and "try to measure an ever-changing series of pipes", there is not much point to the control group.

-->-- NPR, [[http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/11/15/142366953/the-tuesday-podcast-from-harvard-economist-to-casino-ceo From Harvard Economist To Casino CEO]]

[[folder:Film]]
* {{Averted|Trope}} in Series/TheKidsInTheHall movie ''Film/BrainCandy'', in a hilarious scene with Creator/BrendanFraser as a guy with bad acne who knows he's in the placebo group.
* The film ''Film/TheBrainMachine'', in which all four subjects are given the treatment.
* ''Film/NightOfTheLepus'' actually got this right. Now if only the annoying kid would not have swapped two rabbits, the film would never have happened.
* In ''Film/ReturnOfTheLivingDeadRaveToTheGrave'', the female protagonist decides to experiment on a group of lab mice with a drug that turns people into zombies. She tells a fellow classmate that she'll set one mouse aside as a control group, and then in the next shot she goes back on her word and gives the drug to the control group. In a later scene, the classmate she lied to lets the mouse out because he thought it didn't have the drug, and ends up being bitten and turned into a zombie for his trouble while the mouse escapes to infect others. So not only did the protagonist violate scientific protocol that she was well aware of, but she lied about it and as a result endangered human lives and is directly responsible for at least part of the local ZombieApocalypse.
* {{Averted|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', [[FreezeFrameBonus but only if you pay attention]]. During Nicodemus' flashback, the row below his is marked "CONTROL GROUP." It's difficult to see in the VHS version, however. It's more conspicuously averted in the original book.
* {{Averted|Trope}} in, of all things, the Z-Grade Minimum Opus ''UKM: The Ultimate Killing Machine'', in which a group of 4-F "volunteers" are injected with a defective SuperSoldier [[SuperSerum Serum]] without being informed just what it is they've "volunteered" for. The plot hinges on the fact that the four subjects were given varying doses of the Crazy Juice -- and none of them know which one of them received just plain saline, as the control.
* ''Film/VForVendetta'': The prisoners in the government facility were all exposed to experimental treatments. Not a single one of them seemed to be given placebo drugs. This is probably because, in the graphic novel, it was [[ANaziByAnyOtherName a parallel to]] UsefulNotes/NaziGermany and the main object was to sadistically kill minorities using a face-saving rationale, not to do actual science. After all, for ''real'' science, half-starved and worked-nigh-to-death subjects are less than ideal.
* {{Averted|Trope}} in ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'': Dr. Connors administers his test serum to only one mouse and uses another as the control. [[spoiler:The injected mouse mutates and eats the control mouse.]]
* Take to extremes in the zombie flick ''Devil's Playground'', in which not one of the ''thirty thousand'' volunteer test subjects is apparently given a placebo in lieu of the invigorating (and accidentally-zombifying) experimental drug.
* In the 2012 medical horror film ''Film/TheFacility2012'', there are seven drug-test volunteers. Just ''one'' of them is a designated control subject, presumably because it aids the story if there's somebody audiences can be sure ''isn't'' going insane from the side effects. [[spoiler:Another character is also spared the effects, as he chickened out and only pretended to take the drug.]]
* {{Averted|Trope}} in ''Film/{{Clonus}}'' -- when Richard finds a tape explaining how the clones are made, it states that some of them are infected with bioengineered viruses in order to restrict their intellectual development while they're still embryos. However, in order to make sure the cloning process works, some are left unaltered as controls. Richard and Lena are part of this control group, which is why their ear tags match.

[[folder:Literature]]
* {{Averted|Trope}} in Creator/LarryNiven's ''Destiny's Road.'' Colonists on a new planet lack genetic diversity and a nutritious diet. They set aside one village to receive neither dietary supplements nor breeding opportunities, effectively turning the population into their control group.
* Max Barry's ''Literature/MachineMan'' has a laboratory's worth of scientists testing out an entire LINE of Better Parts on themselves. Better Spleens, Better Eyes, Better Muscles...
* In Creator/StephenKing's ''Literature/{{Firestarter}}'' [[MadScientist Dr. Wanless]] tells the students that half of them will be receiving distilled water and the other half will be receiving a mildly hallucinogenic drug called "Lot 6", but it's made clear later on that all of the volunteers received "Lot 6", which is actually a highly dangerous PsychoSerum. It is implied that he lied because he knew that there was a 50% mortality rate from the drug and he needed an excuse for why half of the participants in the study were gone the next morning.
* In Creator/RobertAHeinlein's ''Literature/BeyondThisHorizon'' (1942), most couples select the best sets of their genes for their children. But the government subsidizes a group designated as "Control Naturals" to create their children the old-fashioned way, in case current generations' definitions of "best" turn out to have unforeseen liabilities.
* Lack of control groups is at the center of the "miracle drug" in ''Literature/TheKingOfTorts''. Doctors love the drug because it works very well and has no side effects. The drug company fears the drug because their lack of adequate testing failed to turn up the fact that the drug causes benign tumors in a user's bladder. Lawyers love the drug because they can use the drug company for damages and the treatment is very simple. [[spoiler:Lawyers and users then hate the drug because the rushed treatments and settlements did not take the time to uncover the fact that the tumors are actually very malignant.]]
* In ''Literature/DrFranklinsIsland'' the titular doctor [[ForcedTransformation turns teens into]] MixAndMatchCritters and gives them ElectronicTelepathy. Semi and Miranda are able to use the latter to get into contact with a long-lost friend who tells them ''he'' was kept as a human, presumably as a control or to help monitor what they say to each other. In fact he was lying.

* ''Series/{{Community}}'': The episode "[[Recap/CommunityS1E04SocialPsychology Social Psychology]]" has a test going on to observe the reaction of subjects to repeatedly being told to wait. The problem is the observation goes on in a group setting, when subjects should have been isolated from each other. Experiencing previous breakdowns may have influenced the breakdown of later subjects. Though given how the administrator reacts when one of them ''doesn't'' break down, and his amusement when others do, it's pretty clear that this "experiment" was conducted [[ItAmusedMe for his own entertainment]] as much as anything.
* Speaking of having a control group yet still botching its implementation, in ''Series/{{House}},'' Thirteen is placed in the placebo group for a Huntington's Disease medication, which Foreman is able to find out by the nurse's small talk. Therefore, not only is the staff willing to spread this information around, said nurse even mentions that the real medication has a foul smell while the placebo doesn't, meaning they're trivially easy to tell apart which makes the whole exercise utterly pointless by countering the placebo effect.
** Also worth noting: in a proper double-blind medical study, ''no one'' knows which group is the placebo (or at least, not the people administering the medication) to prevent the researchers from accidentally giving the patients clues (for instance, through tone of voice or body language).

-->'''Mr. Kraft''': Sabrina, you can be honest with me. I'm in the placebo group, aren't I?
-->'''Sabrina''': Maybe not. It's possible you were given ''aging'' cream. However, if you were you'd be suffering from hearing loss by now...
-->'''Mr. Kraft''': Oh, thank you. These ''are'' new shoes, actually.
* ''Series/TheXFiles'': {{Subverted|Trope}} in the episode "Red Museum", which gets this one right. A small town was being used to test one of the evil conspiracy's plans for turning people into half-alien monsters. The method being tested here was feeding them beef from cattle injected with alien growth hormones, which failed to turn them into aliens, but did turn several teenage boys into super-predatory rapists. The conspiracy guys also had one of their men establish a weird cult run out of a nearby farmhouse whose members were all vegetarians, in order to act as a control group. (We already know what happens if you feed people beef from cattle ''not'' injected with alien growth hormones.)
* Joked about by Creator/DaraOBriain on ''Series/{{QI}}'' during a discussion of the mythical benefits of playing Mozart to children, where he points out the control group would be hard to find for that experiment.
-->'''Dara''': So you're telling the parents 'we're going to deny your child intellectual stimulation in hopes that they turn out dumb'.
* A nice little {{aver|tedTrope}}sion in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' where Sisko, Jake, Nog, and [[ItMakesSenseInContext Quark]] are surveying a planet, Nog notes they are going to check other water sources to make sure the elements in the water they are reading isn't unique to the local area.
* The ''Series/NorthernExposure'' episode "The Robe" averts this. When the inhabitants of Cicely sign up for a medical trial, there ''is'' a control group, and much of the episode consists of Maurice seeking assurance that ''obviously'' the most important man in town wouldn't have been given a placebo, and Joel vainly attempting to explain "randomised" and "double blind" to him.

* {{Averted|Trope}} in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cCC8a6HMz4 music video]] for "Put It To The Test", by Music/TheyMightBeGiants.

* {{Averted|Trope}} in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'': the Vault-Tec Vaults, despite their creators claiming they were for ensuring mankind's survival in the coming nuclear war, were secretly part of a grand social experiment by the government, each vault conducting a particular experiment (such as not letting the door close completely, overpopulating the vault, etc.) with the purpose of the resulting data being used by said government in future space colonization. However, exactly 17 vaults (out of 122) worked exactly as advertised, said vaults being the control group.

-->'''Cave Johnson''': Alright, let's get started! This first test involves something the lab boys call "Repulsion Gel". You're not part of the control group, by the way. You get the gel. Last poor son of a gun got blue paint! Ha ha ha! ...all joking aside, that did happen. Broke every bone in his legs. Tragic, but informative! Or so I'm told. ''[A while later]'' The lab boys just informed me that [[CaptainObvious I should NOT have mentioned the control group]]. They're telling me I ought to stop making these pre-recorded messages. That gave me an idea: Make more pre-recorded messages. [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem I pay the bills here, I can talk about the control group all damn day]]!

* In ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'', [[spoiler:Dr. Mosely/Zeta is running a sex experiment on her summer school class. However, there is no mention of a control group of girls who ''aren’t'' in a classroom with a popular alpha male classmate, an angry beta male classmate, and a grossly incompetent teacher.]]

* [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20090706 Averted]] in ''Webcomic/GirlGenius''. Because being a ''[[MadScientist mad]]'' scientist is not a good enough reason [[http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/comic.php?date=20040223 to tolerate lax procedures in your lab]].
** Ironically, this may violate experimental procedure in a different way. A second variable introduced into the experiment is known as a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confounding procedural confound]], and poses a danger to the validity of the experiment.
*** Of course, ''that'' particular variable would be a good test of StockholmSyndrome.
* {{Averted|Trope}} in [[http://xkcd.com/507/ this]] Webcomic/{{xkcd}} strip, with male sex partners serving as "control groups" for [[ExperimentedInCollege lesbian experimentation]].
* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': {{Averted|Trope}}. Tedd [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2012-04-16 uses]] Sarah as a [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2012-04-20 control test subject]] and is [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2012-06-18 frustrated]] that he can't use Nanase as one since she's too GenreSavvy.
-->'''Tedd:''' Do you have ''any idea'' how statistically insignificant the amount of test data I have is?

[[folder:Web Original]]
* While Radham Academy in ''Literature/{{Twig}}'' does practice the scientific method with their BioPunk technology, they tend to prefer iterative improvement over testing with a control group. Any even marginal successful experiment will be tested to destruction, and then a new and improved version will be made.
* ''Website/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1765 SCP-1765]] are three near godlike beings who run experiments on the trapped staff members of Site-37. The base was split into four sections. Three are basically given various forms of torture, while the fourth is left as a "control group," unharmed by the experiments. Considering these experiments include "throw fireballs at the scientists while they run away" and "try to measure an ever-changing series of pipes," there is not much point to the control group.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1765 SCP-1765]] are three near godlike beings who run experiments on the trapped staff members of Site-37. The base was split into four sections. Three are basically given various forms of torture, while the fourth is left as a "control group," unharmed by the experiments. Considering these experiments include "throw fireballs at the scientists while they run away" and "try to measure an ever-changing series of pipes," there is not much point to the control group.

* The dirty little secret about the Nazi death camps, one which all Western countries--and Russia--are unwilling to admit to, is that many of the experiments carried out on living people by the Nazis did indeed provide valid scientific knowledge of a sort which would have been impossible to recreate in any country with a normal regard for human rights. The Nazis systematically and ruthlessly tested concepts on living people, adhering rigidly to scientific protocols (including repeatability) and testing against "control groups". Much of their research on behalf of the Luftwaffe and Kreigsmarine involved replicating the effects of extreme temperature and pressure change on human bodies and human endurance. This involved pressure chambers in which the atmospheric effects of either extremely high flight or extremely low depths were tested on living people, with and without experimental flight-suits or diving/submarine apparatus. Nobody wants to admit how Nazi research still keeps our military pilots and submariners able to function[[note]]without Britain, the USA, Russia or even Israel having to do anything ''directly'' morally unsound[[/note]], but this, alas, is the truth.
** The Japanese "Unit 731" did more along these lines to advance the cause of science than the Nazis did, to the extent that they were essentially pardoned for war crimes in exchange for the data.

* The ''Series/NothernExposure'' episode "The Robe" averts this. When the inhabitants of Cicely sign up for a medical trial, there ''is'' a control group, and much of the episode consists of Maurice seeking assurance that ''obviously'' the most important man in town wouldn't have been given a placebo, and Joel vainly attempting to explain "randomised" and "double blind" to him.

* In ''VisualNovel/DoubleHomework'', [[spoiler:Dr. Mosely/Zeta is running a sex experiment on her summer school class. However, there is no mention of a control group of girls who ''aren’t’’ in a classroom with a popular alpha male classmate, an angry beta male classmate, and a grossly incompetent teacher.]]

* In the 2012 medical horror film ''Film/TheFacility'', there are seven drug-test volunteers. Just ''one'' of them is a designated control subject, presumably because it aids the story if there's somebody audiences can be sure ''isn't'' going insane from the side effects. [[spoiler:Another character is also spared the effects, as he chickened out and only pretended to take the drug.]]

* The film ''The Brain Machine'', in which all four subjects are given the treatment.

* In the 2012 medical horror film ''The Facility'', there are seven drug-test volunteers. Just ''one'' of them is a designated control subject, presumably because it aids the story if there's somebody audiences can be sure ''isn't'' going insane from the side effects. [[spoiler:Another character is also spared the effects, as he chickened out and only pretended to take the drug.]]

* Averted in Series/TheKidsInTheHall movie ''Film/BrainCandy'', in a hilarious scene with Creator/BrendanFraser as a guy with bad acne who knows he's in the placebo group.

* ''Film/NightOfTheLepus'' actually got that right. Now if only the annoying kid would not have swapped two rabbits, the film would never have happened.

* Averted in ''WesternAnimation/TheSecretOfNIMH'', [[FreezeFrameBonus but only if you pay attention]]. During Nicodemus' flashback, the row below his is marked "CONTROL GROUP." It's difficult to see in the VHS version, however. It's more conspicuously averted in the original book.
* Averted in, of all things, the Z-Grade Minimum Opus ''UKM: The Ultimate Killing Machine'', in which a group of 4-F "volunteers" are injected with a defective [[SuperSerum Super Soldier Serum]] without being informed just what it is they've "volunteered" for. The plot hinges on the fact that the four subjects were given varying doses of the Crazy Juice -- and none of them know which one of them received just plain saline, as the control.
* ''Film/VForVendetta'' -- The prisoners in the government facility were all exposed to experimental treatments. Not a single one of them seemed to be given placebo drugs. This is probably because, in the graphic novel, it was a parallel to UsefulNotes/NaziGermany and the main object was to sadistically kill minorities using a face-saving rationale, not to do actual science. After all, for ''real'' science, half-starved and worked-nigh-to-death subjects are less than ideal.
* Averted in ''Film/TheAmazingSpiderMan'': Dr. Connors administers his test serum to only one mouse and uses another as the control. [[spoiler:The injected mouse mutates and eats the control mouse.]]
* Take to extremes in the zombie flick ''Film/DevilsPlayground'', in which not one of the ''thirty thousand'' volunteer test subjects is apparently given a placebo in lieu of the invigorating (and accidentally-zombifying) experimental drug.
* In the 2012 medical horror film ''The Facility'', there are seven drug-test volunteers. Just ''one'' of them is a designated control subject, presumably because it aids the story if there's somebody audiences can be sure ''isn't'' going insane from the side effects. [[spoiler: Another character is also spared the effects, as he chickened out and only pretended to take the drug.]]
* Averted in ''Film/{{Clonus}}'' - each group of clones has a different ear tag, and those with tags like Richard's are controls.

* Averted in Creator/LarryNiven's ''Destiny's Road.'' Colonists on a new planet lack genetic diversity and a nutritious diet. They set aside one village to receive neither dietary supplements nor breeding opportunities, effectively turning the population into their control group.

* Lack of control groups is at the center of the "miracle drug" in ''[[Literature/JohnGrisham The King Of Torts]]''. Doctors love the drug because it works very well and has no side effects. The drug company fears the drug because their lack of adequate testing failed to turn up the fact that the drug causes benign tumors in a user's bladder. Lawyers love the drug because they can use the drug company for damages and the treatment is very simple. [[spoiler: Lawyers and users then hate the drug because the rushed treatments and settlements did not take the time to uncover the fact that the tumors are actually very malignant.]]

* ''Series/{{Community}}'' episode "[[Recap/CommunityS1E04SocialPsychology Social Psychology]]" has a test going on to observe the reaction of subjects to repeatedly being told to wait. The problem is the observation goes on in a group setting, when subjects should have been isolated from each other. Experiencing previous breakdowns may have influenced the breakdown of later subjects. Though given how the administrator reacts when one of them ''doesn't'' break down, and his amusement when others do, it's pretty clear this "experiment" was conducted for his own entertainment as much as anything.

* Parodied in ''Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch'': Sabrina's aunts have decided to live apart and Sabrina is seeing what would happen if she decided to stay with Zelda via magic crystal ball. She is shown becoming a scientist and giving anti-aging cream of her own design to a regular looking Libby (after she gives a speech insulting herself and praising Sabrina) and to a very old looking Mr. Kraft:

* Subverted in ''Series/TheXFiles'', the episode "Red Museum" gets this one right, a small town was being used to test one of the evil conspiracy's plans for turning people into half-alien monsters. The method being tested here was feeding them beef from cattle injected with alien growth hormones, which failed to turn them into aliens, but did turn several teenage boys into super-predatory rapists. The conspiracy guys also had one of their men establish a weird cult run out of a nearby farmhouse whose members were all vegetarians, in order to act as a control group. (We already know what happens if you feed people beef from cattle ''not'' injected with alien growth hormones.)
* Joked about by DaraOBriain on ''Series/{{QI}}'' during a discussion of the mythical benefits of playing Mozart to children, where he points out the control group would be hard to find for that experiment.
-->'''Dara''': So you're telling the parents 'we're going to deny your child intellectual stimulation in hopes that they turn out dumb.'
* A nice little aversion in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' where Sisko, Jake, Nog, and [[ItMakesSenseInContext Quark]] are surveying a planet, Nog notes they are going to check other water sources to make sure the elements in the water they are reading isn't unique to the local area.

* Averted in the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cCC8a6HMz4 music video]] for "Put It To The Test", by Music/TheyMightBeGiants.

* Averted in ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'': the Vault-Tec Vaults, despite their creators claiming they were for ensuring mankind's survival in the coming nuclear war, were secretly part of a grand social experiment by the government, each vault conducting a particular experiment (such as not letting the door close completely, overpopulating the vault, etc) with the purpose of the resulting data being used by said government in future space colonization. However, exactly 17 vaults (out of 122) worked exactly as advertised, said vaults being the control group.
* ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' shows that Cave Johnson doesn't quite grasp how control groups are meant to work:
-->'''Cave Johnson''': Alright, let's get started! This first test involves something the lab boys call "Repulsion Gel". You're not part of the control group, by the way. You get the gel. Last poor son of a gun got blue paint! Ha ha ha! ...all joking aside, that did happen. Broke every bone in his legs. Tragic, but informative! Or so I'm told. ''[A while later]'' The lab boys just informed me that [[CaptainObvious I should NOT have mentioned the control group]]. They're telling me I ought to stop making these pre-recorded messages. That gave me an idea: Make more pre-recorded messages. [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem I pay the bills here, I can talk about the control group all damn day!]]

* In the {{webcomic}} ''Inhuman'', the Naitec scientists had no control group at first, but corrected this error a few years into their TykeBomb army project. Interestingly, they were exterminated not [[HoistByHisOwnPetard by their creatures]], but by their theocratic clients.
* Humorously averted in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0545.html this]] ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'' comic. A test group of captured peasants is to be pushed off a tower into a rift leading to the SealedEvilInACan; a control group is just going to be pushed off the other side of the tower.

* Averted in [[http://xkcd.com/507/ this]] Webcomic/{{xkcd}} strip, with male sex partners serving as "control groups" for [[ExperimentedInCollege lesbian experimentation]].
* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'': Averted. Tedd [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2012-04-16 uses]] Sarah as a [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2012-04-20 control test subject]] and is [[http://egscomics.com/comic/2012-06-18 frustrated]] that he can't use Nanase as one since she's too GenreSavvy.