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Before personal computers that generated random numbers on demand, there were (actually, there still are!) printed tables of random numbers that were used to create a random sampling. The random sample table below has been simulated from the output of BMRA Random Number Wizard.
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To use a printed table, you first pick your starting point by randomly dropping your finger on the chart with eyes closed. (The dart board method works as well, but it limits the number of times you can use the Random Number Table. :)
From the random start point, choose as many of the random numbers as you need.
For a series of times, the student would take the random number and convert it into the 0000 to 2359 time space. For example, you could convert the random number to a number of minutes and interpret this as a time. For example 1236, as minutes, would convert to 20.6 hours, with .6 hours reflecting 36 minutes: 2036, or 8:36 p.m. Quite a challenge if you need a long series of random times.
The BMRA Random Number Generator Wizard takes all of these challenges out of picking random numbers!
