Layoffs and “survivor guilt” Workers who survive a layoff of other employees at their location may suffer from “survivor guilt.” A study of survivor guilt and its effects used as subjects 120 students who were offered an opportunity to earn extra course credit by doing proofreading. Each subject worked in the same cubicle as another student, who was an accomplice of the experimenters. At a break midway through the work, one of three things happened:

Treatment 1: The accomplice was told to leave; it was explained that this was because she performed poorly.

Treatment 2: It was explained that unforeseen circumstances meant there was only enough work for one person. By “chance,” the accomplice was chosen to be laid off.

Treatment 3: Both students continued to work after the break.

The subjects’ work performance after the break was compared with performance before the break.35 Describe how you would randomly assign the subjects to the treatments

(a) using slips of paper.

(b) using technology.

(c) using Table D.