Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
control for
English answer:
allow for and take into account but not let it affect the results
Added to glossary by
Nadia Ayoub
Sep 20, 2011 13:33
12 yrs ago
1 viewer *
English term
Egypt
Never lost for words!
Native in: Arabic
Works in: English to Arabic, Arabic to English, Italian to Arabic, and 4 more.
control for
English
Social Sciences
International Org/Dev/Coop
Census data offer the possibility to **control for** the distortions in composition that can occur in survey– based convergence analysis. Distortion in composition arises, for instance, from using socio–economic groups whose representation changes over time, which can have quantitative and substantive implications. This limitation can be controlled by using socio–economic groups that maintain their relative representation over time, such as socio–economic quantiles that are specific to urban and rural areas, e.g. autonomous urban and rural quintiles. Assign an equal weight to the two dimensions considered, in order to obtain the socio–economic index from the simple average of the two sub–indices. Note that the procedure should be applied to rural and urban areas separately, so that the weighting factors are used specific to each area. By doing so the different quantiles are particular to urban and rural areas. Construct this initial segmentation to allow for inter-temporal monitoring exercises, **controlling for** compositional effects.
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Thank you for your help!
Responses
+8
7 mins
Liz Dexter (was Broomfield)
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
&
English
Works in field
United Kingdom
Proofreading, editing & localisation
Native in: English (Variants: Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, British, UK, US)
Works in: English
Related KudoZ points
:
20
Selected
allow for and take into account but not let it affect the results
Gosh, a hard thing to encapsulate in a phrase.
If these distortions are "controlled for" it means that
- their existence is noted
- the analysis is conducted in such a way that these distortions do not affect the results.
- this is done by choosing variables that will remain as stable as possible, allowing you to examine the variables you want to examine without them getting in the way.
The example given explains it - by using socio economic groups that don't change over time, that controls for change over time. So you can then study the other aspects that this aspect is distorting.
If these distortions are "controlled for" it means that
- their existence is noted
- the analysis is conducted in such a way that these distortions do not affect the results.
- this is done by choosing variables that will remain as stable as possible, allowing you to examine the variables you want to examine without them getting in the way.
The example given explains it - by using socio economic groups that don't change over time, that controls for change over time. So you can then study the other aspects that this aspect is distorting.
Note from asker:
| Thank you Liz, that's clear enough! |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Many thanks Liz!"
18 mins
Stephanie Ezrol
United States
United States
Native in English
&
English
United States
French to English, English to English
Native in: English
Works in: English, French to English, French Middle (ca.1400-1600) to English
Related KudoZ points
:
12
serving as a control
I believe they are using term control in way that is similar to the use of a control in physical scientific experiments.
This entry from wikipedia, including the following paragraph is a useful reference for the idea of a control:
"Scientific control refers to a concept that allows for comparison as a part of the scientific method. It is often used in discussion of natural experiments. For instance, during drug testing, scientists will try to control two groups to keep them as identical and normal as possible, then allow one group to try the drug. This allows science to isolate the effects of the drug.
Scientific control needs not be experimental, and experimentation can sometimes be impossible (as in astronomy). The important thing is to try and control variables and attributes in the data so that the conclusions drawn are valid. Controls are used because it can be difficult to avoid confounding variables."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_control
The statistical study in the question is discussing looking for groups with less variables, do I think they are using control in this way.
This entry from wikipedia, including the following paragraph is a useful reference for the idea of a control:
"Scientific control refers to a concept that allows for comparison as a part of the scientific method. It is often used in discussion of natural experiments. For instance, during drug testing, scientists will try to control two groups to keep them as identical and normal as possible, then allow one group to try the drug. This allows science to isolate the effects of the drug.
Scientific control needs not be experimental, and experimentation can sometimes be impossible (as in astronomy). The important thing is to try and control variables and attributes in the data so that the conclusions drawn are valid. Controls are used because it can be difficult to avoid confounding variables."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_control
The statistical study in the question is discussing looking for groups with less variables, do I think they are using control in this way.
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
Joshua Wolfe
: There is a nuance of diff. between 'controlling for' and 'serving as a control'
1 hr
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my thought was that for the standpoint of translation it might be helpful to thinks of the Arabic term for "a control," but perhaps I missing the nuance here. I think, in English, that "a control" does come from the verb "to control"
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