How Random Must Random Assignment Be in Random Assignment Experiments?

analysis for the Self-Sufficiency Project (SSP) sponsored by Human Resources Development Canada (HRDC). The Self-Sufficiency Project is sponsored by HRDC. This paper was produced for SRDC. The opinions expressed herein are the authors ’ and do not necessarily reflect those of SRDC or HRDC. The Social Research and Demonstration Corporation is a non-profit organization and registered charity with offices in Ottawa, Vancouver, and Sydney, Nova Scotia. SRDC was created specifically to develop, field test, and rigorously evaluate social programs. SRDC’s two-part mission is to help policy-makers and practitioners identify social policies and programs that improve the well-being of all Canadians, with a special concern for the effects on the disadvantaged, and to raise the standards of evidence that are used in assessing social policies. As an intermediary organization, SRDC attempts to bridge the worlds of academic researchers, government policy-makers, and on-the-ground program operators. Providing a vehicle for the development and management of complex demonstration projects, SRDC seeks to work in close partnership with provinces, the federa