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Random assignment or random placement is an experimental technique for assigning human participants or animal subjects to different groups in an experiment (e.g., a treatment group versus a control group) using randomization, such as by a chance procedure (e.g., flipping a coin) or a random number generator. [1]
Randomization is a statistical process in which a random mechanism is employed to select a sample from a population or assign subjects to different groups. [1] [2] [3] The process is crucial in ensuring the random allocation of experimental units or treatment protocols, thereby minimizing selection bias and enhancing the statistical validity. [4]
The fields of mathematics, probability, and statistics use formal definitions of randomness, typically assuming that there is some 'objective' probability distribution. In statistics, a random variable is an assignment of a numerical value to each possible outcome of an event space. This association facilitates the identification and the ...
In the statistical theory of design of experiments, randomization involves randomly allocating the experimental units across the treatment groups.For example, if an experiment compares a new drug against a standard drug, then the patients should be allocated to either the new drug or to the standard drug control using randomization.
Graphic breakdown of stratified random sampling. In statistics, stratified randomization is a method of sampling which first stratifies the whole study population into subgroups with same attributes or characteristics, known as strata, then followed by simple random sampling from the stratified groups, where each element within the same subgroup are selected unbiasedly during any stage of the ...
Selection bias is the bias introduced by the selection of individuals, groups, or data for analysis in such a way that proper randomization is not achieved, thereby failing to ensure that the sample obtained is representative of the population intended to be analyzed. [1] It is sometimes referred to as the selection effect.
A ubiquitous use of unpredictable random numbers is in cryptography, which underlies most of the schemes which attempt to provide security in modern communications (e.g., confidentiality, authentication, electronic commerce, etc.). For example, if a user wants to use an encryption algorithm, it is best that they select a random number as the key.
In an experiment with random assignment, study units have the same chance of being assigned to a given treatment condition. As such, random assignment ensures that both the experimental and control groups are equivalent. In a quasi-experimental design, assignment to a given treatment condition is based on something other than random assignment.