Outline

Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design
In this topic, we introduce the following concepts and
techniques:
Introduction
1 Components of an experiment
Components
of an
experiment

Motivation for
2 Motivation for experimental design
experimental
design

Some terms 3 Some terms and concepts

and concepts

Techniques
for 4 Techniques for experimental design
experimental
design

Basics for
analysing
5 Basics for analysing experiments
experiments
 Introduction

Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design
A researcher may collect information through surveys or
Introduction through experiments.
Components Our focus in this course will be designing and analysing
of an
experiment optimal experiments.
Motivation for
experimental For instance, the one conducting an experiment will usually
design
worry about the number of subjects (or experimental units)
Some terms
and concepts to be recruited.
Techniques
for
There will be other considerations like budget, ethics etc.
experimental
design In order to determine these, one needs to set out the reasons
Basics for for conducting the experiment.
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental Why should we conduct experiments?
design
There are many reasons for which experiments may be
Introduction
conducted. These include:
Components Determining causes of variation in a response. For example,
of an
experiment weights of intensively fed cattle of different breeds.
Motivation for
experimental
Finding settings that extremise the measured response. For
design instance, which combination of proteins and carbohydrates
Some terms
and concepts
provides best nutrition for a baby?
Techniques Comparing the responses achieved at different levels of a
for
experimental treatment. E. g. Under what conditions would one get the
design
best maize yield?
Basics for
analysing
experiments
Obtaining an appropriate mathematical model in order to
infer about future responses.
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

Usually, there will be several causes of variation (factors)

Introduction that would have an effect on the response of interest.
Components
of an One will requires special techniques to gain ample informa-
experiment
tion from examining only a subset of possible factor settings.
Motivation for
experimental
design
Therefore, it is important to design an experiment that will
Some terms
give the best results upon analysis.
and concepts
This means that in designing an experiment, one must take
Techniques
for into account the type of analysis that will be performed in
experimental
design order to get good results and conclusions.
Basics for
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

There are cases where experiments are not feasible.

Introduction

Components For instance, one cannot perform an experiment to prove

of an
experiment that smoking causes cancer in humans.
Motivation for This would making some people to smoke and making oth-
experimental
design ers not to smoke.
Some terms
and concepts This would be unethical.
Techniques
for
However, one can observe that smoking is associated with
experimental
design
cancer in humans.
Basics for
analysing
experiments
 Components of an experiment

Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design
An experiment has treatments, experimental units, responses,
Introduction and a method for assigning treatments to units.
Components
of an
Treatments, units, and assignment method specify the ex-
experiment perimental design.
Motivation for
experimental In some cases selection of treatments is also called treat-
design
ment design.
Some terms
and concepts And so experiment design is the process of selecting units
Techniques
for
and assigning of treatments to the units.
experimental
design Note that there is no mention of a method for analyzing
Basics for the results.
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

The analysis strategy is not part of the design.

Introduction
However, it is good to consider the analysis when planning
Components
of an an experiment.
experiment

Motivation for
Design determines the proper analysis to a great extent. For
experimental
design
instance, two experiments with similar designs may be ana-
Some terms
lyzed differently, and two experiments with different designs
and concepts
may be analyzed similarly.
Techniques
for Analysis depends on design, statistical model and assump-
experimental
design tions we are willing to assume.
Basics for
analysing
experiments
 Motivation for experimental design

Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

Introduction An experimental design depends on the questions to be an-

Components swered.
of an
experiment
This means experimental designs may not be uniform.
Motivation for
experimental However, all experimental designs must
design
1 avoid systematic error,
Some terms
and concepts 2 be precise,
Techniques
3 allow estimation of error,
for 4 have broad validity.
experimental
design

Basics for
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

Systemic error
Introduction
The aim of comparative experiments is to estimate differ-
Components
of an ences in response between treatments.
experiment
The comparison will be biased if there is a systematic error.
Motivation for
experimental
design
Consider an experiment where a farmer wishes to compare
Some terms two varieties of maize planted on plot A and plot B.
and concepts
On plot A he uses synthetic fertilizer and on plot B he uses
Techniques
for organic fertilizer.
experimental
design
One would overcome this error by randomization.
Basics for
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

Introduction
Random error
Components
of an
experiment
There are always random errors in measuring response vari-
Motivation for
ables.
experimental
design This will lead to random error in the treatment comparisons.
Some terms
and concepts
And so the goal of any experimental design is to ensure that
Techniques
the error in treatment comparison is as small as possible.
for
experimental
design

Basics for
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

Introduction
Estimation of random error
Components Knowing the size of a random error has several uses as has
of an
experiment already been seen elsewhere.
Motivation for
experimental
Confidence intervals and statistical tests for population pa-
design rameters depend on estimates of random errors.
Some terms
and concepts This means that in designing experiments, measures should
Techniques be taken and assumptions made to ensure estimation of
for
experimental estimation error.
design

Basics for
analysing
experiments
 Some terms and concepts

Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

Introduction
We now look at some definitions related to design of
Components experiments.
of an
experiment Treatments are the different procedures that need to be
Motivation for compared. For instance, different pain killers or different
experimental
design varieties of beans
Some terms
and concepts Experimental units are items to which treatments are ap-
Techniques plied. For example, patients in case of pain killers or plots
for
experimental in case of beans.
design

Basics for
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

Introduction Responses are outcomes that we observe after applying a

Components treatment to experimental units. For example, severity of
of an
experiment pain or number of bags yielded per plot.
Motivation for Primary responses, are responses of primary interest for a
experimental
design given unit.
Some terms
This response may not be measurable in the short term.
and concepts In this case one may use a surrogate response: response
Techniques related to and predictive of the primary response.
for
experimental
design

Basics for
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

Introduction E.g, a trial might be used to find drugs that increase life
Components expectancy after an initial heart attack.
of an
experiment Primary response is years of life after heart attack which
Motivation for may take a long time to be used in the analysis.
experimental
design One might consider studying another variable related to this
Some terms
response.
and concepts The main risk of using a surrogate response is that it may
Techniques not be a good predictor of the primary response.
for
experimental
design

Basics for
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

Introduction Experimental Error is the random variation present in all

Components
of an
experimental results.
experiment Experimental units are generally different and so they give
Motivation for different responses to the same treatment.
experimental
design
Measurement units (or response units) are the actual items
Some terms
and concepts on which response is measured. These may differ from the
Techniques experimental units.
for
experimental
design

Basics for
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

Introduction

Components Blinding is when the evaluator of the response does not

of an
experiment
know which treatment was assigned to which unit.
Motivation for Double blinding occurs when both the evaluator of the
experimental
design
response and experimental unit (usually human subjects)
do not know which treatment has been assigned to unit.
Some terms
and concepts The aim is to prevent bias in the evaluation.
Techniques
for
experimental
design

Basics for
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

A control is a “standard” treatment that is used as a basis

Introduction (or starting point) of comparison for the other treatments.
Components
of an
experiment This could be the treatment in common use, or it might be
Motivation for a null treatment (no treatment at all). E.g. Standard drug
experimental
design versus a new drug.
Some terms Placebo is a null treatment that is used in testing effec-
and concepts
tiveness of a new treatment or sets of treatments.
Techniques
for Usually used with human subjects, because people often
experimental
design respond to any treatment.
Basics for
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

Introduction Factors combine to form treatments.

Components For example, maize growing treatment may involve variety
of an
experiment and fertilizer.
Motivation for The treatment would be the combination of variety and fer-
experimental
design tilizer and theses can be varied separately.
Some terms So one would have a variety factor and a fertilizer factor.
and concepts Settings of each factor are called levels. E.g. Varieties A,
Techniques B and C.
for
experimental
design

Basics for
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

Introduction Confounding occurs when the effect of one factor or treat-

Components ment cannot be distinguished from that of another factor
of an
experiment or treatment.
Motivation for
experimental
The two factors or treatments are said to be confounded.
design Consider planting maize variety A in Mzimba and maize
Some terms variety B in Nsanje.
and concepts
We cannot distinguish location effects from variety effects—the
Techniques
for variety factor and the location factor are confounded.
experimental
design

Basics for
analysing
experiments
 Techniques for experimental design

Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

Introduction

Components
There are 3 basic techniques for experimental design.
of an
experiment These are replication, blocking, and randomization.
Motivation for
experimental
These have different settings, depending on the treatment
design combination, number of experimental units, etc.
Some terms
and concepts Under different settings, each one helps to minimise errors
Techniques and bias.
for
experimental
design

Basics for
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

Replication
Introduction

Components Replication is when two or more subjects are assigned the

of an
experiment
same factor level.
Motivation for Note that this is different from repeated measurements.
experimental
design In repeated measurements, two or measurements of the
Some terms same variable are recorded on one subject, at the same time
and concepts
or over time.
Techniques The aim is to check variation in measurement process or
for
experimental variation in the subject over time.
design

Basics for
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental Blocking
design
There is a need to have varied experimental conditions so
Introduction
that inferences cover as much scope as possible.
Components This should be done without unnecessarily increasing vari-
of an
experiment ability of the response.
Motivation for
experimental
Blocking helps to deal with this increased variability in the
design response.
Some terms
and concepts Blocking is the process of partitioning experimental units
Techniques into sets (called blocks) sharing common values of some
for
experimental characteristic.
design

Basics for
Properly done blocking gives treatment comparisons that
analysing
experiments
are more precise than similar comparisons from an un-
blocked design.
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design
Randomization
Introduction Randomization is the assigning of treatments to units us-
Components ing probabilistic techniques.
of an
experiment Randomization ensures that systematic and personal biases
Motivation for
experimental
are not introduced in the experiment.
design
As an example, a farmer may decide to assign her favorite
Some terms
and concepts variety of maize to the most fertile plot.
Techniques
for
There is obvious bias in this example because the preferred
experimental
design
variety will appear to give better yield whether it is actually
Basics for
good or bad.
analysing
experiments
 Basic principles and techniques for analysis

Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design

Introduction
One would first consider exploratory data analysis where
Components
graphs/plots and simple descriptives are provided.
of an
experiment Plots illustrate the responses of the factor settings under
Motivation for study and allow the proposed model to be checked.
experimental
design
Exploratory analyses are also used in identifying extreme
Some terms
and concepts values among the data.
Techniques Analyses quantify the relative responses of the factors, thus
for
experimental providing conclusions that might not be apparent in plots.
design

Basics for
analysing
experiments
Principles and
techniques of
experimental
design
We usually use mathematical models in analyses of responses
Introduction
from experiments.
Components This means that appropriate analyses help with inferences
of an
experiment about parameters associated with the postulated models.
Motivation for
experimental
Linear models would be fairly sufficient to model data from
design most experimental designs.
Some terms
and concepts In that case, least squares methods are usually used in ob-
Techniques taining estimates of the parameters.
for
experimental
design
Most inferences work under the assumption that the “error
Basics for terms” are normally distributed.
analysing
experiments