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Statistics vocabulary · Survey and Study Design

Random assignment

Meaning in statistics, with examples

nounCommon term

In statistics, random assignment means: Placing participants into the groups of an experiment by chance, for example with computer-generated random numbers, so that the groups are similar at the start.

In Turkish: rastgele atama, seçkisiz atama, randomizasyon

How it is used

Also called randomisation (UK) or randomization (US). It balances known and unknown confounders on average, which is why randomised controlled trials (RCTs) are the strongest design for showing causation. Do not confuse it with random sampling, which decides who enters the study.

Example sentences

  1. Random assignment made the two groups similar in age and baseline scores.

  2. Classes, not individual students, were the unit of random assignment.

Common collocations

  • random assignment to groups
  • randomised controlled trial
  • block randomisation
  • randomly assign participants
  • control groupThe group in an experiment that does not receive the treatment being tested, or receives a placebo or the usual treatment, so that it can be compared with the treatment group.
  • causationA relationship in which a change in one variable directly produces a change in another, as opposed to the two simply moving together.
  • confounding variableA third variable that is related to both the independent and the dependent variable and can create a false or distorted impression of the relationship between them.
  • random sampleA sample chosen so that every member of the population has a known, usually equal, chance of being selected, which helps avoid systematic bias.

This word in other fields

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

More terms: Survey and Study Design

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