Activity #3 Testing Medicines: A Clinical Trial

Key Words Clinical Trial – a test performed on volunteers, typically to test medicines, before the products are made available to the public Control – a standard used for comparison that is not changed throughout the experiment Placebo – a control that simulates a medicine but doesn’t have the active ingredient

Key Words Sample Size – the amount of people or thing being tested Simulation – an experience that is meant to mimic, or be like, another experiment Trade-Off – an exchange of one thing in return for another

Purpose of Clinical Trials Include a placebo group. Used to test safety and effectiveness of medicines. Evidence gathered from these trials can be used to make conclusions.

Summary Human responses vary. One part of a good scientific design is a large sample size. Graphing data can reveal patterns about the experiment.