Negative controls are groups where no phenomenon is expected. They ensure that there is no effect when there should be no effect. To continue with the example of drug testing, a negative control is a group that has not been administered the drug of interest. This group receives either no preparation at all or a sham preparation (that is, a placebo), either an excipient-only (also called vehicle-only) preparation or the proverbial "sugar pill." We would say that the control group should show a negative or null effect.