Random assignment: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Process involving chance used in research for allocating experimental subjects to groups}}

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'''Random assignment''' or '''random placement''' is an [[experiment]]al technique for assigning [[human subject research|human participants]] or [[animal testing|animal subjects]] to different groups in an experiment (e.g., [[treatment and control groups|a treatment group versus a control group]]) using [[wikt:randomization#Noun|randomization]], such as by a chance procedure (e.g., [[coin flipping|flipping a coin]]) or a [[random number generation|random number generator]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Witte, Robert S.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/956984834|title=Statistics|publisher=|others=Witte, John S.|date=5 January 2017|isbn=978-1-119-25451-5|edition=11|___location=Hoboken, NJ|pages=5|oclc=956984834}}</ref> This ensures that each participant or subject has an equal chance of being placed in any group.<ref name=":0" /> Random assignment of participants helps to ensure that any differences between and within the groups are not [[systematic error|systematic]] at the outset of the experiment.<ref name=":0" /> Thus, any differences between groups recorded at the end of the experiment can be more confidently attributed to the experimental procedures or treatment.<ref name=":0" />

Random assignment, [[blind experiment|blinding]], and [[scientific control|controlling]] are key aspects of the [[design of experiments]] because they help ensure that the results are not spurious or deceptive via [[confounding]]. This is why [[randomized controlled trial]]s are vital in [[clinical research]], especially ones that can be [[double-blinded]] and [[placebo-controlled]].

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==Random sampling==

Random sampling is a related, but distinct, process.<ref name="socialresearchmethods.net">{{cite web|url=http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/random.php|title=Social Research Methods - Knowledge Base - Random Selection & Assignment}}</ref> Random sampling is recruiting participants in a way that they represent a larger population.<ref name="socialresearchmethods.net"/> Because most basic statistical tests require the hypothesis of an independent randomly sampled population, random assignment is the desired assignment method because it provides control for all attributes of the members of the samples—in contrast to matching on only one or more variables—and provides the mathematical basis for estimating the likelihood of group equivalence for characteristics one is interested in, both for pretreatment checks on equivalence and the evaluation of post treatment results using inferential statistics. More advanced statistical modeling can be used to adapt the inference to the sampling method.

==History==

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== External links ==

* Experimental Random Assignment Tool: {{usurped|1=[httphttps://wwwweb.archive.org/web/20130620135427/http://researchtool.org/ Random assignment tool - Experimental]}}

{{Statistics|collection|state=collapsed}}