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2022 · Commentary · Significance (Oxford, England)

Randomisation can do many things - but it cannot "fail"

Arthur H Owora; John Dawson; Gary Gadbury; Luis M Mestre; Greg Pavela; Tapan Mehta; Colby J Vorland; Pengcheng Xun; David B Allison

Explains misconceptions about randomization and why an unexpected allocation outcome does not mean the randomization procedure failed.

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Publication details

Research themes

Statistical rigor

research-practice · clinical-trials

Author affiliations & identifiers
  • Arthur H Owora: assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University, School of Public Health-Bloomington.
  • John Dawson: assistant professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences, Texas Tech University, College of Human Sciences.
  • Gary Gadbury: professor emeritus in the Department of Statistics, Kansas State University, College of Arts and Sciences.
  • Luis M Mestre: research assistant and PhD student in epidemiology with a minor in data science at Indiana University, School of Public Health-Bloomington.
  • Greg Pavela: associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Public Health.
  • Tapan Mehta: associate professor and director of research in the Department of Health Services Administration, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, School of Health Professions.
  • Colby J Vorland: post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Applied Health Science, Indiana University, School of Public Health-Bloomington.
  • Pengcheng Xun: associate director of epidemiology and outcomes research at Atara Biotherapeutics, United States.
  • David B Allison: dean, distinguished professor, and provost professor at Indiana University, School of Public Health-Bloomington.

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