{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.group-in-an-experiment","code":"thing-q7836899","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q7836899/","name":"group in an experiment","alternateNames":[],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Cross-cutting context","entryKind":"thing","plane":"XCT","domain":["XCT.QTY"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"A set of participants or units in an experiment that receive the same treatment or condition, such as a treatment group receiving an intervention and a control group receiving none or a placebo, with assignment ideally random, so that differences in outcomes between groups can be attributed to the treatment; groups are the units of comparison in experimental design and clinical trials, and related designs include matched groups, crossover arms and within-subject conditions.","purpose":"Let an agent explain groups in experimental design, describe treatment, control and other group types, relay principles of random assignment and comparison from methodology sources, and distinguish experimental groups from observational cohorts and statistical populations.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Shared condition","Random assignment ideal","Comparison basis","Sample size and power"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What experimental groups are.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition and types.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What is a group in an experiment, and what types exist?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about an experimental group, an observational cohort or a population?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"assignment","name":"Assignment","description":"Assignment.","findings":[{"id":"assignment-finding","name":"Assignment","description":"Assignment.","questions":[{"text":"How are participants assigned to groups, and why does randomisation matter?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits randomised controlled trial?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"design","name":"Design","description":"Design and analysis.","layers":[{"id":"design","name":"Design","description":"Design choices.","findings":[{"id":"design-finding","name":"Design","description":"Design.","questions":[{"text":"How are group sizes, matching, blinding and crossover designs chosen?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"analysis","name":"Analysis","description":"Analysis.","findings":[{"id":"analysis-finding","name":"Analysis","description":"Analysis.","questions":[{"text":"How are differences between groups analysed and reported?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits statistical hypothesis testing?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"ethics","name":"Ethics","description":"Ethics and reporting.","layers":[{"id":"ethics","name":"Ethics","description":"Ethics.","findings":[{"id":"ethics-finding","name":"Ethics","description":"Ethics.","questions":[{"text":"What ethical rules govern control groups, placebos and consent?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which sources are cited?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"reporting","name":"Reporting","description":"Reporting.","findings":[{"id":"reporting-finding","name":"Reporting","description":"Reporting.","questions":[{"text":"What do CONSORT and similar guidelines require about groups?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits CONSORT?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"context","name":"Context","description":"History and fields.","layers":[{"id":"history","name":"History","description":"History.","findings":[{"id":"history-finding","name":"History","description":"History.","questions":[{"text":"How did controlled groups develop from Lind and Fisher to modern trials?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits the history of experimental design?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"fields","name":"Fields","description":"Across fields.","findings":[{"id":"fields-finding","name":"Fields","description":"Fields.","questions":[{"text":"How do groups differ in medicine, psychology, agriculture and online experiments?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits A/B testing?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Assign units to groups by the randomisation plan and record allocation.","Report group sizes, attrition and outcomes as specified in the protocol."],"mustNot":["Change group allocation outside the protocol or reveal it where blinding applies.","Enrol people in a group without informed consent.","Withhold effective treatment from a control group where ethics require it.","Report results selectively to favour one group."],"requiresHuman":["Unblinding or stopping an experiment early.","Deciding the ethics of a placebo or no-treatment group."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["People in control groups can be denied benefit; ethics review exists to weigh that.","Manipulated group comparisons lead to wrong treatments for many."],"affectedParties":["Participants","Future patients","Researchers"]},"owners":{"steward":"The principal investigator, under an ethics committee's approval.","roles":[],"masterSystems":["Clinical trial registries"]},"relations":[{"target":"Q2311577","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"sub-population","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"experimental design","type":"related","note":"the study plan"},{"target":"randomization","type":"related","note":"in randomised experiments"},{"target":"control group","type":"related","note":"to estimate effects"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.group-in-an-experiment","Wikidata: Q7836899 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7836899)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Participants sharing a condition in an experiment","Treatment, control, placebo, matched and crossover groups","Observational cohorts are not assigned; a population is what groups are sampled from","Not a visible object; sets of participants in a study design."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain group types","relay assignment and comparison principles","describe designs","distinguish from cohorts and populations"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Confounding from poor assignment","Underpowered groups","Confusing groups with cohorts","Unblinded comparisons"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["CONSORT and other reporting guidelines for trials","Research ethics rules on assignment and consent","Statistical standards for sample size and analysis"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Comparing conditions in experiments.","treatment or experimental groups","control groups including placebo and no-treatment","active comparator groups","matched and stratified groups","crossover arms and within-subject conditions","factorial design cells"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q7836899: group in an experiment","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7836899","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Treatment and control groups","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treatment_and_control_groups","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should control group and treatment group be separate entries?","How should methodology references be linked?","How should within-subject designs be recorded?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q7836899/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q7836899/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-13T02:17:19Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:52:02+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane XCT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}