Should I use this or a research roadmap?

The roadmap goes in the introduction and summarises the whole thesis; the experimental design flowchart goes in the methods chapter and covers the experiment only. Experimental theses usually include both, and the template library has roadmaps.

Will the question mark in the decision node break the diagram?

No. Curly braces { } make a diamond decision node and can hold question marks; only double quotes need care, and you can wrap the whole label in quotes when needed.

Can it show multi-group or factorial experiments?

Yes. Draw one node per group coming out of the grouping step and merging into measurement; for factorial designs, put the groups in a subgraph labelled with the factors and levels to keep the figure tidy.

Experiment Design Flowchart Template (Treatment vs Control)

Experimental design flowchart from hypothesis and random assignment to treatment and control groups, measurement and a significance test, looping back when results are not significant. For science and psychology theses; free PNG, Word and PowerPoint export.

Previewed in the “Indigo” theme; you can switch themes in the editor

Open in the editorFree · No sign-up · No watermark

Once open you can edit the text, switch themes and style, and change the layout before exporting. The download buttons here give you the template as is

When to use it

The "experimental design" or "methods" section of a thesis in psychology, education, medicine, agriculture or engineering. Treatment and control groups sit side by side and merge into one measurement step, and a decision node stands for the statistical test, matching the structure of most experimental methods sections.

Making it yours

Several treatment levels (low dose, high dose): add C --> D2[Treatment group 2: …] and connect it to F.
To show pre-test and post-test separately, split F into F1[Pre-test] and F2[Post-test] with the intervention in between.
Name the actual test in the decision node, for example G{t-test / ANOVA p < 0.05?}.
If you do not want the loop back to grouping, delete the two lines with I.
Switch to a light theme before exporting if the thesis is printed in black and white.

Mermaid code

flowchart TB
    A[State the hypothesis] --> B[Define variables and measures]
    B --> C[Sampling and random assignment]
    C --> D[Treatment group: intervention]
    C --> E[Control group: no intervention]
    D --> F[Pre-test / post-test measurement]
    E --> F
    F --> G{Significant difference?}
    G -- Yes --> H[Support hypothesis and analyse mechanism]
    G -- No --> I[Review design and sample size]
    I -.-> C
    H --> J(Conclusion)

Ask an AI for one with this structure

Send the prompt below to ChatGPT or Claude, then paste the whole reply into the editor; the code inside is detected automatically.

Draw an experimental design flowchart in Mermaid flowchart TB syntax. Hypothesis: [your hypothesis]; independent variable: [...]; dependent variable and measures: [...]. Steps: state the hypothesis → define variables and measures → sampling and random assignment → treatment group [intervention] and control group [control condition] side by side → pre-test / post-test measurement → decision node "Significant difference?"; if yes, support the hypothesis and analyse the mechanism; if no, review the design and return to grouping with a dotted arrow → conclusion (rounded node). Output only the mermaid code block.

FAQ

Should I use this or a research roadmap?: The roadmap goes in the introduction and summarises the whole thesis; the experimental design flowchart goes in the methods chapter and covers the experiment only. Experimental theses usually include both, and the template library has roadmaps.
Will the question mark in the decision node break the diagram?: No. Curly braces { } make a diamond decision node and can hold question marks; only double quotes need care, and you can wrap the whole label in quotes when needed.
Can it show multi-group or factorial experiments?: Yes. Draw one node per group coming out of the grouping step and merging into measurement; for factorial designs, put the groups in a subgraph labelled with the factors and levels to keep the figure tidy.

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Updated 2026-10-03