Random Selection Software
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Please Note: RandomWare is more than just random selection software. RandomWare is a comprehensive suite of software systems for Drug & Alcohol Testing Data Management.
Random Selection Preview Random Selection Software at its Best: Use a Random Selection Preview to Reduce Redundant Testing

The Random Selection Preview is simply a random sort of the entire personnel roster from which the random sample for drug testing is generated without names and with each person's most recent random selection date.

For example, if you plan to select 5 people and you use the preview as the basis for a random selection, the first five people represented in the previewed list will be those selected. Please note that names are not displayed in the preview.

A comparable resource previews random selections from a consortium of companies and reveals each person's respective company in the previewed list but not the person's name. This resource helps the TPA who wants to limit excessive testing of a single consortium member.

The Random Selection Preview provides the opportunity to review a random sample before you commit to the selection.  This random selection method is completely unbiased since the names of the participants are not displayed.  The preview displays the last selection date for everyone in the list so you can reduce redundant testing.

If a random sort represents a reasonable distribution of previously selected personnel, you can generate a random selection of 'n' people from the list (n=1,2,3,4,...) (identically the first 'n' people represented in the preview).

How the Random Selection Software Preview Works
When the dialog box is first displayed, the personnel list is randomly sorted.  The name that corresponds to each record in the random sorted list is not displayed, although the date of their most recent random selection is shown.  
For example, the person that corresponds to the first ID Card was last randomly selected on January 12, 2004 (01-12-2004).  The person that corresponds to the second ID Card has never been randomly selected or was last selected on or before a date you can specify - this is covered later.  The person that corresponds to the third ID Card was last selected April 16, 2004 (04-16-2004).   

Since names are not displayed the random selection preview is completely unbiased.

 
   
When almost everyone has been randomly selected at one time or another, it's difficult to determine if a random sort represents an outcome that reduces redundancy.

For example, if you're generating a random selection for the second quarter you may want to suppress the display of dates for everyone selected last year.

Enter 12-31-2003 and click the Apply Date Restriction button:

If someone's last selection date is on or before the date specified, their date will display as a blank date: "../../...."

To resort, click the Re-Sort button.

If you know you're going to generate a random selection of 10 people from the list, simply click the Resort option until the first ten items show previous random selection dates that satisfy your requirements.

This resource may not completely eliminate redundant random selections, however, you can use it to help reduce redundancy. 

When you're happy with the outcome of a sort, select a random selection option from the menu at the top of the dialog box.  The random selection control you select will duplicate the random selection exactly as it's displayed here.  The personnel randomly selected will correspond to the personnel represented by the personnel ID cards in the preview.