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16.14: Random Number Table

  • Page ID
    220811
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    The following table provides a list of random numbers in which the digits 0 through 9 appear with approximately equal frequency. Numbers are arranged in groups of five to make the table easier to view. This arrangement is arbitrary, and you can treat the table as a sequence of random individual digits (1, 2, 1, 3, 7, 4...going down the first column of digits on the left side of the table), as a sequence of three digit numbers (111, 212, 104, 367, 739... using the first three columns of digits on the left side of the table), or in any other similar manner.

    Let’s use the table to pick 10 random numbers between 1 and 50. To do so, we choose a random starting point, perhaps by dropping a pencil onto the table. For this exercise, we will assume that the starting point is the fifth row of the third column, or 12032 (highlighted in red below). Because the numbers must be between 1 and 50, we will use the last two digits, ignoring all two-digit numbers less than 01 or greater than 50. Proceeding down the third column, and moving to the top of the fourth column if necessary, gives the following 10 random numbers: 32, 01, 05, 16, 15, 38, 24, 10, 26, 14.

    These random numbers (1000 total digits) are a small subset of values from the publication Million Random Digits (Rand Corporation, 2001) and used with permission. Information about the publication, and a link to a text file containing the million random digits is available at http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1418/.

    11164 36318 75061 37674 26320 75100 10431 20418 19228 91792
    21215 91791 76831 58678 87054 31687 93205 43685 19732 08468
    10438 44482 66558 37649 08882 90870 12462 41810 01806 02977
    36792 26236 33266 66583 60881 97395 20461 36742 02852 50564
    73944 04773 12032 51414 82384 38370 00249 80709 72605 67497
    49563 12872 14063 93104 78483 72717 68714 18048 25005 04151
    64208 48237 41701 73117 33242 42314 83049 21933 92813 04763
    51486 72875 38605 29341 80749 80151 33835 52602 79147 08868
    99756 26360 64516 17971 48478 09610 04638 17141 09227 10606
    71325 55217 13015 72907 00431 45117 33827 92873 02953 85474
    65285 97198 12138 53010 95601 15838 16805 61004 43516 17020
    17264 57327 38224 29301 31381 38109 34976 65692 98566 29550
    95639 99754 31199 92558 68368 04985 51092 37780 40261 14479
    61555 76404 86210 11808 12841 45147 97438 60022 12645 62000
    78137 98768 04689 87130 79225 08153 84967 64539 79493 74917
    62490 99215 84987 28759 19177 14733 24550 28067 68894 38490
    24216 63444 21283 07044 92729 37284 13211 37485 10415 36457
    16975 95428 33226 55903 31605 43817 22250 03918 46999 98501
    59138 39542 71168 57609 91510 77904 74244 50940 31553 62562
    29478 59652 50414 31966 87912 87514 12944 49862 96566 48825

    This page titled 16.14: Random Number Table is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by David Harvey.

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