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Mark Louie Ramos, Assistant Research Professor of Health Policy and Administration, Penn State

YOU WONT BELIEVE: What does it mean to control for variables in a scientific study a statistician explains - What They Never Told You

Some participants in a clinical trial get the experimental drug, while those in the control group get a fake pill. Spencer Weiner/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Scientific studies, and news coverage about them, often declare that a study “controlled” for certain variables.

For example, the Washington Post reported on a study of GLP-1 drugs and a hormonal disorder. The article noted that “women on GLP-1s lost more weight than those in control groups.”

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