adj · academic
random
/ˈrændəm/RAN·dom
happening or chosen without a definite plan or pattern
Examples
“The students were placed into groups at random to make the test fair.”
“To avoid bias, the researchers selected participants using a random method.”
“We couldn't find any pattern; the errors appeared completely random.”
Band 8 sentence
“To ensure fairness, participants were allocated to groups using a random procedure rather than letting volunteers choose.”
Collocations
- at random
- random sampling
- random assignment
Word family
Common mistakes
They chose the students random.→They chose the students randomly.
We used random to assign groups.→We used random assignment to assign groups.
Say it for a higher band
5unplanned→6haphazard→7+random
Synonyms
unplanned
haphazard
Easily confused
haphazard
“The warehouse was organised in a haphazard way, with boxes stacked without any order.”
Related words
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In Science & Research
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