On Fri, 8 Dec 2000, John A. Viator wrote:
> When conducting question and answer sessions for large audiences,
> why do speakers often try to distribute their attention (pick
> questioners) randomly?
If one chooses questioners according to location or in some ordered
sequence, it is not purely random, and it is therefore perceived as
biased. If one chooses for example only from those in the back seats,
it discriminates against those who came in earlier or preferred front
seats. The perception of bias is eliminated by making the sequence of
questionners appear to be purely random, any person having an equal chance
of being picked.
Fred Foldvary
