the.com/controlgroup
The people who got nothing, so we'd know if your something did anything.
means In an experiment, the untreated baseline group used to measure whether the actual treatment had a real effect.
from From control, meaning to check or verify against a standard — itself from Latin contra rotulus, a counter-roll used to audit accounts — plus group, the comparison cohort that keeps results honest.
Placebo trickSugar pills often work, embarrassingly well.
Gold standardNo control means no real conclusion.
Double blindEven researchers don't know who got what.