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.