Chapter 5, Problem 2SE

Simulation Suppose you are carrying out a randomized experiment to test if there is a difference in the amount of information remembered between students who take notes using a computer versus those who take notes by hand using pen and paper. You have 20 college student participants and want each to have an equal chance of being assigned to the computer group or the pen and paper group. Let the even digits $\left(0,2,4,6,8\right)$ represent assignment to the computer group and the odd digits $\left(1,3,5,7,9\right)$ represent assignment to the pen and paper group. Begin with the first digit in the third row of the random number table in Appendix A.

a. Write the sequence of 20 random digits.

b. Change the sequence of 20 random digits to a sequence of C for computer (digits 0, 2, 4, 6, 8) and P for paper (digits 1, 3, 5, 7, 9).

c. What percentage of the 20 participants were assigned to the computer group?

d. Describe another way the random number table could have been used to randomly assign participants to one of the two groups.