Randomization is prescribed in several statistical procedures for reasons related not only to the assurance of scientific objectivity. Randomization, in essence, may be defined as a physical mechanism to assign probabilities to events. In probability sampling, such events are related to the selection of samples from finite populations. Samples are selected according to randomization processes that guarantee selection probabilities for any specific sample. As a consequence, it also guarantees inclusion probabilities (of first and higher orders) for any element of the population. When a simple random sampling design (without replacement) is employed, for instance, any sample A, of size n from a population \(\mathcal{U}\), of size N (n < N) have the same probability of been selected, and its inclusion probability of first order corresponds to the sample fraction, n ∕ N. Restrictions imposed on the randomization lead to different sample designs (e.g., systematic sampling, Bernoulli...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References and Further Reading
Fisher RA (1925) Statistical methods for research workers. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh
Fisher RA (1935) The design of experiments. Oliver and Boyd, Edinburgh
Hinkelmann K, Kempthorne O (1994) Design and Analysis of Experiments, vol 1. Wiley-Interscience, New York
Särndal C-E, Swensson B, Wretmann J (1992) Model assisted survey sampling. Springer, New York
Tillé Y (2006) Sampling algorithms. Springer, New York
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this entry
Cite this entry
Ferraz, C. (2011). Randomization. In: Lovric, M. (eds) International Encyclopedia of Statistical Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04898-2_470
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04898-2_470
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-04897-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-04898-2
eBook Packages: Mathematics and StatisticsReference Module Computer Science and Engineering