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French scientific study vocabulary: témoin, échantillon and protocole

Edited by Chris Lee · Updated · About the library

Learn the French terms for sample, control group, protocol, variables and bias, then identify each element in a short study description.

In short

L’échantillon is the set of people or units actually studied. Le groupe témoin provides the comparison condition; le protocole describes the planned procedure. Identify those three elements before interpreting the result.

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A university researcher quietly observes three adult students working at separate tables on completely blank task sheets, no charts or writing.
The students take part in un protocole for an attention study. Illustration: Atelier

A study in eight terms

1 · 1 · La population: the wider group

This is the group the question concerns. It can be much larger than the people actually recruited.

L’étude porte sur l’attention des étudiants de première année.The study concerns first-year students’ attention.

2 · 2 · Un échantillon: the observed subset

Keep the masculine article. A large sample and a representative sample are different descriptions: size alone gives no account of recruitment.

L’échantillon comprend quarante étudiants volontaires.The sample consists of forty student volunteers.

3 · 3 · Un groupe témoin: the comparison

The control group supplies a reference condition. Its members can still complete tasks; “control” does not mean doing nothing.

Le groupe témoin effectue la tâche sans interruption.The control group performs the task without interruption.

4 · 4 · Un protocole: the planned steps

Look for duration, instructions, group assignment and measurement timing. The protocol is the procedure, rather than the findings.

Le protocole prévoit un test de dix minutes dans chaque groupe.The protocol provides for a ten-minute test in each group.

5 · 5 · Une variable: something that can vary

A researcher can manipulate one factor and measure another. Keep the factor changed separate from the outcome measured.

Les chercheurs font varier le nombre d’interruptions et mesurent le nombre d’erreurs.The researchers vary the number of interruptions and measure the number of errors.

6 · 6 · Une répartition aléatoire: allocation by chance

The allocation of participants to groups can be random even when recruitment uses volunteers. Random allocation and random sampling are separate steps.

Les volontaires sont répartis au hasard entre les deux groupes.The volunteers are allocated to the two groups at random.

7 · 7 · Un biais: a systematic distortion

A recruitment or measurement process can favour certain observations. The word names a methodological problem, rather than an ordinary difference between two people.

Le recrutement dans une seule classe peut introduire un biais de sélection.Recruiting from a single class can introduce selection bias.

8 · 8 · Un résultat: what was observed

Distinguish the measurement from its explanation and from how widely it can be applied. Une limite names a boundary on that interpretation.

Le résultat concerne cet échantillon et ces conditions de test.The finding concerns this sample and these testing conditions.

Read the method, then identify its parts

Une équipe étudie l’effet des interruptions sur l’attention des étudiants de première année. Elle recrute quarante volontaires dans une seule université, puis les répartit au hasard en deux groupes de vingt. Tous passent le même test de dix minutes. Le premier groupe reçoit un signal sonore toutes les deux minutes ; le groupe témoin travaille sans signal. Les consignes et la durée sont identiques. L’équipe compare ensuite le nombre d’erreurs dans les deux groupes.

A team studies the effect of interruptions on first-year students’ attention. It recruits forty volunteers at one university, then allocates them at random to two groups of twenty. Everyone takes the same ten-minute test. The first group receives a sound signal every two minutes; the control group works without a signal. Instructions and duration are identical. The team then compares the number of errors in the two groups.

Question 1No account needed
What is the complete sample?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Les quarante volontaires recrutés. The sample includes everyone actually recruited: forty volunteers, including both groups.

Question 2No account needed
Which condition provides the control comparison?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Le test sans signal sonore. The control group takes the same test without the sound signals that distinguish the other condition.

Question 3No account needed
Which detail belongs to the protocol rather than to a result?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Chaque test dure dix minutes.. Duration is a planned procedural detail. The other options would describe observed outcomes.

Question 4No account needed
Which distinction is supported by the description?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Allocation is random; recruitment is described as voluntary.. The volunteers are allocated at random after recruitment. Voluntary recruitment is a different step.

Question 5No account needed
What outcome is measured?

Choose one answer.

Answer and explanation

Le nombre d’erreurs. The final sentence identifies the number of errors as the outcome compared between groups.

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