Blocked Randomization with Randomly Selected Block Sizes
Center for Health Disparities Research and the Department of Public Health, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Physicians Quadrangle, Greenville, NC 27858, USA
Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2011, 8(1), 15-20; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph8010015
Received: 22 November 2010 / Revised: 19 December 2010 / Accepted: 21 December 2010 / Published: 23 December 2010
When planning a randomized clinical trial, careful consideration must be given to how participants are selected for various arms of a study. Selection and accidental bias may occur when participants are not assigned to study groups with equal probability. A simple random allocation scheme is a process by which each participant has equal likelihood of being assigned to treatment versus referent groups. However, by chance an unequal number of individuals may be assigned to each arm of the study and thus decrease the power to detect statistically significant differences between groups. Block randomization is a commonly used technique in clinical trial design to reduce bias and achieve balance in the allocation of participants to treatment arms, especially when the sample size is small. This method increases the probability that each arm will contain an equal number of individuals by sequencing participant assignments by block. Yet still, the allocation process may be predictable, for example, when the investigator is not blind and the block size is fixed. This paper provides an overview of blocked randomization and illustrates how to avoid selection bias by using random block sizes.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Efird, J. Blocked Randomization with Randomly Selected Block Sizes. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2011, 8, 15-20.
AMA Style
Efird J. Blocked Randomization with Randomly Selected Block Sizes. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2011; 8(1):15-20.
Chicago/Turabian StyleEfird, Jimmy. 2011. "Blocked Randomization with Randomly Selected Block Sizes" Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 8, no. 1: 15-20.
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