The Importance of Random Assignment
Overview
This short paper assignment will require you to explain the importance of random assignment in psychological research.
Prompt
Imagine that you are an online tutor for an undergraduate Research Methods course. One day, you get this email:
Dear Tutor, I am having some trouble understanding why it is so important to randomly assign participants to experimental conditions. It seems to me that if you have a large enough sample, the results would probably be valid even if you didn’t bother to randomize the participants. Why is it important to go through the trouble of randomizing participants? Also, if you are going to randomly assign participants, how should you do it?
Respond to this student’s email, explaining the concepts at the appropriate level for an undergraduate. In your response, be sure that you explain why it is important to randomize participants. Also, explain some of the ways that a researcher can randomly assign participants. Lastly, be sure to explain how a researcher can draw valid conclusions even in situations where randomization is not possible.
Review Beginning Behavioral Research: A Conceptual Primer, Chapters 7 and 8, to further prepare for this assignment.
Remember that you are writing to a student. Acknowledge their discomfort with the concepts. Help them to understand random assignment to experimental conditions by answering the questions below. Using language identical to the text is not beneficial. Assume they have read the material but do not understand.
Use the following questions to guide your work:
Why is randomization important?
Review Chapter 7, which addresses three principal reasons for using random assignment.
Focus on an overview of why randomization is important in your words.
When you randomly assign participants, how should you do it?
Review Chapter 7: How is Random Assignment Accomplished?
Provide examples of those methods so the student understands.
How can a researcher make valid conclusions even when randomization is impossible?
Review Chapter 8, which explains making conclusions without random assignment.
Your paper should include all of the following critical elements:
Discussion about the importance of randomization in a psychology experiment
An explanation of the methods of randomizationthat a researcher can use to randomly assign participants
An explanation of how a researcher can draw conclusions without randomization
What to Submit
Your paper must be submitted as a Microsoft Word document with double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, and one-inch margins. This paper should be a minimum of three pages (not including the cover page and references) and must follow APA format.
