ABSTRACT
In the earlier chapters of this book we discussed the analysis of data from various experimental designs. The merits and deficiencies of these designs were discussed in a piecemeal fashion without a consistent development of the underlying principles of experimental design. In this chapter, we will review the important overall concepts of experimental design, placing the various designs previously considered in context and indicating where more complex designs that have not been discussed are appropriate. Two concepts which we have already discussed at some length are control of variation by blocking (Chapter 5) and factorial structure for treatments (particularly in Chapter 7). We will not add much to our earlier discussion of these topics, but we must emphasize that these two concepts are extremely important in designing experiments.
