An education researcher wishes to assess the effectiveness of three different methods for teaching young

children to read. The 380 children participating in the study are divided into three groups. The study runs for

six months. The children in the first group are taught using method A, the children in the second group are

taught using method B, and the children in the third group are taught using method C. At the end of the six

months, the reading ability of the children in the different groups is assessed. Why is it important to use random

assignment when dividing the children into three groups?