Which of the following methods of assigning participants to groups in an experiment is the best example of random sampling?
A) putting the girls in one group and the boys in another
B) making sure that children are able to select the group to which they want to belong
C) putting all children's names in a hat and drawing names to form the groups, even if this results in having unequal numbers of boys and girls in the groups
D) having the teacher assign children to groups in order to best separate friends from each other

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Random sampling involves placing people in groups so that the groups are roughly equivalent. When children self-select their groups, they are likely to be unequal in important ways. Having a teacher assign children, although better than letting children self-select, may also result in a non-random sampling, since the teacher may be placing children with some specific strategy in mind. Random sampling is best done by drawing names because no bias of any sort can enter into this selection method.

Which of the Following Methods of Assigning Participants to Groups