There is evidence that patients may neither understand nor accept randomisation in clinical trials. In a study in North Staffordshire (

–4) adults attending further education classes appeared to understand randomisation but not accept it.

The 130 participants in the study were aged between 18 and 70 (mean 32 years), 67% were women, and their occupations ranged from unskilled to managerial or professional. Most were not formally educated beyond GCSE or O levels (usually taken at 16 years). They were given two hypothetical scenarios (one medical and one nonmedical) in which people needed to be allocated to two groups. Five methods of allocation were proposed: computer allocation with no information about individuals, toss of a coin, drawing …