Random assignment: Difference between revisions

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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.|first=|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/956984834|title=Statistics|publisher=|others=Witte, John S.|yeardate=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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Randomization was emphasized in the theory of statistical inference of [[Charles Sanders Peirce|Charles S. Peirce]] in "[[Charles Sanders Peirce bibliography#illus|Illustrations of the Logic of Science]]" (1877–1878) and "[[Charles Sanders Peirce bibliography#SIL|A Theory of Probable Inference]]" (1883). Peirce applied randomization in the Peirce-[[Joseph Jastrow|Jastrow]] experiment on weight perception.

Charles S. Peirce randomly assigned volunteers to a [[blind experiment|blinded]], [[repeated measures design|repeated-measures design]] to evaluate their ability to discriminate weights.<ref name="smalldiff">{{cite journal| author=[[Charles Sanders Peirce]] and [[Joseph Jastrow]]|year=1885|title=On Small Differences in Sensation|url=http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Peirce/small-diffs.htm| journal=Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=3|pages=73–83}}</ref><ref name="telepathy">{{cite journal|author=Ian Hacking| title=Telepathy: Origins of Randomization in Experimental Design|journal=[[Isis (journal)|Isis]] |volume=79|issue=3|date=September 1988 |pages=427–451|doi=10.1086/354775| s2cid=52201011| author-link=Ian Hacking}}</ref><ref name="stigler">{{cite journal|doi=10.1086/444032|author=Stephen M. Stigler|title=A Historical View of Statistical Concepts in Psychology and Educational Research| journal=American Journal of Education| volume=101|issue=1|date=November 1992|pages=60–70|s2cid=143685203|author-link=Stephen M. Stigler}}</ref><ref name="dehue">{{cite journal|doi=10.1086/383850|author=Trudy Dehue|title=Deception, Efficiency, and Random Groups: Psychology and the Gradual Origination of the Random Group Design|journal=[[Isis (journal)|Isis]]|volume=88|issue=4|date=December 1997|pages=653–673|pmid=9519574|s2cid=23526321|url=https://www.rug.nl/research/portal/files/71855616/237831.pdf}}</ref>

Peirce's experiment inspired other researchers in psychology and education, which developed a research tradition of [[randomized experiment]]s in laboratories and specialized textbooks in the eighteen-hundreds.<ref name="smalldiff"/><ref name="telepathy"/><ref name="stigler"/><ref name="dehue"/>

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* [[Charles Sanders Peirce|Charles S. Peirce]], "[[Charles Sanders Peirce bibliography#SIL|A Theory of Probable Inference]]" (1883)

* {{cite journal| author=[[Charles Sanders Peirce]] and [[Joseph Jastrow]]|year=1885|title=On Small Differences in Sensation| journal=Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=3|pages=73–83|url=http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Peirce/small-diffs.htm}} http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Peirce/small-diffs.htm

* {{cite journal |doi=10.1086/354775 |first=Ian |last=Hacking |author-link=Ian Hacking |title=Telepathy: Origins of Randomization in Experimental Design|journal=[[Isis (journal)|Isis]] |issue=3 |volume=79 |date=September 1988 |pages=427–451 | mr = 1013489 |jstor=234674|s2cid=52201011 }}

* {{cite journal |doi=10.1086/444032 |author=Stephen M. Stigler |title=A Historical View of Statistical Concepts in Psychology and Educational Research |journal=American Journal of Education |volume=101 |issue=1 |date=November 1992 |pages=60–70|s2cid=143685203 |author-link=Stephen M. Stigler }}

* {{cite journal |doi=10.1086/383850 |author=Trudy Dehue |title=Deception, Efficiency, and Random Groups: Psychology and the Gradual Origination of the Random Group Design |journal=[[Isis (journal)|Isis]] |volume=88 |issue=4 |date=December 1997 |pages=653–673 |pmid=9519574|s2cid=23526321 |url=https://www.rug.nl/research/portal/files/71855616/237831.pdf }}

*''Basic Psychology'' by Gleitman, Fridlund, and Reisberg.

*"What statistical testing is, and what it is not," ''Journal of Experimental Education'', 1993, vol 61, pp.&nbsp;293–316 by Shaver.