CONTRASTS WITH STANDARD EXPERIMENTS

1. EXPERIMENTAL CONTROL: In standard experiments, members are in two different groups. Members of one  group receive special experimental treatment. The  other group members, called ‘control group’ do not receive special treatment, though they are from the same environment in all other respects.

But this is not true in engineering, since most of  the  experiments are not  conducted in laboratories.  The  subjects  of   experiments  are  human   beings   who  are  outside  the experimenter’s control.

Thus it is not possible to study the effects of changes in variable on different groups. Hence only historical and retrospective data available about various target groups has to be used for evaluation. Hence engineering as a social experimentation seems to be an extended usage of the concept of experimentation.

2. INFORMED CONSENT: has two elements, knowledge and voluntariness. The subjects (human beings) should be given all the information needed to make a reasonable decision. Next, they must get into the experiment without being subjected to force, fraud or deception. Supplying complete information is neither necessary nor  in most  cases  possible. But all relevant information needed for  making a reasonable decision on whether to participate should be conveyed. Generally, we all prefer to be the subject of our own experiments rather than those of somebody else.