A major university designed a study to determine if weekly meetings with career center counselors will increase student interest in pursuing internships and research opportunities before their junior year, as measured by the Consideration of Future Consequences (CFC) scale. A random number generator was used to choose one hundred students from the freshman and sophomore classes to participate in the study. Using an alphabetical list of last names from the sample, the first 50 students were assigned to attend weekly hour-long meetings at a campus career center during which counselors would discuss with them opportunities for employment and graduate school options. The remaining 50 students also attended weekly hour-long meetings in the student union during which the same counselors would discuss various campus issues, but there was no discussion of graduate school or careers. At the end of the fall semester, the CFC scale was administered to the students in both groups. Required:
a. Was random selection used? Explain why or why not.
b. Was random assignment used? Explain why or why not.