Random Choice Generator

1. Using the random choice generator
2. How many items can be randomly chosen?
3. Is the random choice truly random?

    Using the random choice generator

Using this list shuffler you can choose at random any number of items from a list. If you want to choose just one item, this is a simple random choice. If N items are to be selected, the result will be a random list of N items from the initial list, starting from the top.

In all cases the provided list of items to choose from will be sorted randomly, producing a random order, a.k.a. random shuffle, a.k.a. random selection. The random chooser uses strong randomization algorithms to generate random numbers which are then used to produce an unbiased random order from the input list. The result is a randomly ordered list from which the top N are chosen, depending on how many items you selected to choose from the list. N could be from 1 up to the number of items entered.

You can enter anything in the random choice picker - numbers, words, names, email addresses, names of countries, names of songs, plays, movies, and so on. Importantly, enter one item per row - you can just copy a spreadsheet column into the input field and it will work just fine.

If you wanted to choose many items at random, then in order to retrieve the randomly reordered list, first select it all (Ctrl+A on a PC), and then copy it (Ctrl+C on a PC).

    How many items can be randomly chosen?

The maximum number of items from which the random choice generator can choose is 100,000. This may be subject to further restrictions due to technological limitations related to the maximum request size or memory limits, but you shouldn't run into these unless the selection list contains a lot of text. If you run into such issues, consider assigning each item a unique numerical ID, then feeding these and once a random order is produced for the list of IDs, link the IDs to the value they reference.

    Is the random choice truly random?

If you are wondering if the produced choice is truly random, it is best to first define what a truly random process of choosing between items would be expected to produce. A random choice means that each item on the initial list has an equal chance of ending up in any position of the randomized list and hence has an equal probability of ending up in first position (where it becomes 'chosen'). A procedure offering this quality is called unbiased and results in a fair selection.

Bias technically means 'systematically skewed'. We have tested the shuffle algorithm used in our generator for systematic skewness and validated the results statistically and the test showed that the order is in fact random in the above sense. You can check the outcomes of these tests of randomness and unbiasedness here.

So, in short - yes, the choice randomizer is truly random.