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Psychology vocabulary · Research Methods and Statistics

Random assignment

Meaning in psychology, with examples

nounCommon term

In psychology, random assignment means: Placing participants into the groups of a study by chance, so that each person has an equal chance of being in any group and the groups are similar at the start.

In Turkish: seçkisiz atama, rastgele atama

How it is used

The feature that defines a true experiment or a randomised controlled trial (RCT). Method sections say 'participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions'. Without it, a design is called quasi-experimental.

Example sentences

  1. Random assignment makes it unlikely that differences between the groups explain the results.

  2. We used a computer program for random assignment to the three conditions.

Common collocations

  • random assignment to conditions
  • randomly assigned
  • randomised controlled trial
  • quasi-experimental design
  • control groupThe group in a study that does not receive the treatment or manipulation being tested, so that its results can be compared with those of the group that does.
  • experimentA study in which the researcher deliberately changes one factor and measures the effect on another, while keeping other conditions as constant as possible.
  • confounding variableAn extra variable linked to both the supposed cause and the outcome, so that it may explain an apparent effect instead of the variable being studied.
  • sampleThe group of people actually studied in research, chosen from a larger population so that the results can, ideally, be generalised to it.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Research Methods and Statistics

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