Counterbalancing (2 of 2)

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Counterbalancing can be more complicated when there are more than two conditions. Consider an experiment with three conditions: A, B, and C. The trick in counterbalancing is to make sure that each condition appears in each position an equal number of times. One way of counterbalancing the conditions would be to use the following three orders of presentation:

          First     Second      Third
Order 1     A          B          C
Order 2     B          C          A
Order 3     C          A          B

Notice that all three conditions are performed once first, once second, and once third. Therefore, conditions and order of presentation are not confounded. See also: carryover effects.