Essay

Based on the provided example of block randomization with nine participants and three conditions (AA, BB, and CC), describe the specific sequence of the three pre-generated blocks. Explain how participant assignments proceed step-by-step through these blocks, and state what this procedure guarantees about the sample sizes of the conditions at specific intervals.

Question: Based on the provided example of block randomization with nine participants and three conditions (AA, BB, and CC), describe the specific sequence of the three pre-generated blocks. Explain how participant assignments proceed step-by-step through these blocks, and state what this procedure guarantees about the sample sizes of the conditions at specific intervals.

Sample answer: In the example, nine participants are assigned to three conditions (AA, BB, and CC) using three pre-generated blocks of size three. The first block is A,C,BA, C, B, the second is B,C,AB, C, A, and the third is C,B,AC, B, A. The first participant is assigned to condition AA, the second to CC, the third to BB, the fourth to BB, the fifth to CC, the sixth to AA, the seventh to CC, the eighth to BB, and the ninth to AA. This step-by-step progression guarantees that after every three participants, the conditions have perfectly equal sample sizes.

Key points:

  • The first block sequence is A,C,BA, C, B.
  • The second block sequence is B,C,AB, C, A.
  • The third block sequence is C,B,AC, B, A.
  • Participants are assigned sequentially according to these pre-generated blocks (e.g., first to AA, second to CC, third to BB, etc.).
  • The process guarantees perfectly equal sample sizes among the three conditions after every three participants.

Rubric: The response must accurately name the sequence of all three blocks (A,C,BA, C, B; B,C,AB, C, A; and C,B,AC, B, A), describe the step-by-step mapping of participants to conditions, and explicitly recall that the block size of three guarantees perfectly equal sample sizes after every three participants.

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Updated 2026-05-26

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Research Methods in Psychology - 4th American Edition @ KPU

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