Note: If more than $13,000 of debt is canceled in one year, the gift giver has to file a gift tax return (although they almost certainly will not owe a tax). That should not affect you as the recipient. Example: Roxy borrowed $6,000 from her dad while she was unemployed. She wrote up a promissory note for the debt.
Control Group and Experimental Group. True experiments must have a control group, which is a group of research participants that resemble the experimental group but do not receive the experimental treatment. The control group provides a reliable baseline data to which you can compare the experimental results.
Experimental Design Terminology. The group in an experiment which receives the specified treatment is called the Treatment Group or the experimental group. However, the term Control Group refers to another group assigned to the experiment, but not for the purpose of being exposed to the treatment. Thus, the performance of the control group usually serves as a baseline against which to measure the effect of the full treatment on the treatment group.