Randomization is the process of making something random; this can mean: Random redirects here. ...

• Generating a random permutation of a sequence (such as when shuffling cards).
• Selecting a random sample of a population (important in statistical sampling).
• Generating random numbers: see Random number generation.

A random permutation is a random ordering of a set of objects, that is, a permutation-valued random variable. ... The riffle Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of playing cards to provide an element of chance in card games. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Sampling is that part of statistical practice concerned with the selection of individual observations intended to yield some knowledge about a population of concern, especially for the purposes of statistical inference. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into randomness. ... A random number generator is a computational or physical device designed to generate a sequence of numbers that does not have any easily discernable pattern, so that the sequence can be treated as being random. ...

Applications

Randomization is used extensively in the field of gambling. Imperfect randomization may allow a skilled gambler to have an advantage, so much research has been devoted to effective randomization. A classic example of randomization is shuffling playing cards. Gambling has had many different meanings depending on the cultural and historical context in which it is used. ... The riffle Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of playing cards to provide an element of chance in card games. ...

Randomization is a core principle in the statistical theory of design of experiments. Its use was extensively promoted by R.A. Fisher in his book Statistical Methods for Research Workers. Randomization involves randomly allocating the experimental units across the treatment groups. Thus, if the experiment compares a new drug against a standard drug used as a control, the patients should be allocated to new drug or control by a random process. The first statistician to consider a methodology for the design of experiments was Sir Ronald A. Fisher. ... Sir Ronald Fisher Sir Ronald Aylmer Fisher, FRS (February 17, 1890–July 29, 1962) was an extraordinarily talented evolutionary biologist, geneticist and statistician. ... Statistical Methods for Research Workers (ISBN 0050021702) is a classic 1925 book on statistics by the statistician Ronald Fisher. ... In the design of experiments treatments are applied to experimental units in the treatment group(s), and not to experimental units in the control group. ... Look up Control in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Randomization is not haphazard; it serves a purpose in both frequentist and Bayesian statistics. A frequentist would say that randomization reduces bias by equalising other factors that have not been explicitly accounted for in the experimental design. Considerations of bias are of little concern to Bayesians, who recommend randomization because it produces ignorable designs. In design of experiments, frequentists prefer Completely Randomized Designs. Other experimental designs are used when a full randomization is not possible. These cases include experiments that involve blocking and experiments that have hard-to-change factors. Statistical regularity has motivated the development of the relative frequency concept of probability. ... Bayesian refers to probability and statistics -- either methods associated with the Reverend Thomas Bayes (ca. ... For other senses of this word, see bias (disambiguation). ... In mathematics, a divisor of an integer n, also called a factor of n, is an integer which evenly divides n without leaving a remainder. ... In statistics, ignorability refers to an experiment design where the method of data collection (and the nature of missing data) do not have a significant influence on the intrepretation of the data. ... Completely randomized design falls within the category of true random number generation. ... Look up blocking, block in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

See also: Applications of randomness

Randomness has many uses in gambling, divination, statistics, cryptography, art, etc. ...

Techniques

Although historically "manual" randomization techniques (such as shuffling cards, drawing pieces of paper from a bag, spinning a roulette wheel) were common, nowadays automated techniques are mostly used. As both selecting random samples and random permutations can be reduced to simply selecting random numbers, random number generation methods are now most commonly used, both hardware random number generators and pseudo-random number generators. Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... A random permutation is a random ordering of a set of objects, that is, a permutation-valued random variable. ... A random number generator is a computational or physical device designed to generate a sequence of numbers that does not have any easily discernable pattern, so that the sequence can be treated as being random. ... In computing, a hardware random number generator is an apparatus that generates random numbers from a physical process. ... A pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) is an algorithm that generates a sequence of numbers, the elements of which are approximately independent of each other. ...

Non-algorithmic randomization methods include:

• Casting yarrow stalks (for the I Ching)
• Throwing dice
• Drawing straws
• Shuffling cards
• Roulette wheels
• Drawing pieces of paper or balls from a bag
• "Lottery machines"
• Observing atomic decay using a radiation counter

Binomial name Achillea millefolium L. Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere. ... Alternative meaning: I Ching (monk) The I Ching (Traditional Chinese: 易經, pinyin y jīng; Cantonese IPA: jɪk6gɪŋ1; Cantonese Jyutping: jik6ging1; alternative romanizations include I Jing, Yi Ching, Yi King) is the oldest of the Chinese classic texts. ... Two standard six-sided pipped dice with rounded corners. ... The riffle Shuffling is a procedure used to randomize a deck of playing cards to provide an element of chance in card games. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... A lottery is a popular form of gambling which involves the drawing of lots for a prize. ... Radioactive decay is the set of various processes by which unstable atomic nuclei (nuclides) emit subatomic particles (radiation). ...

See also

• Randomized algorithm