1.

Explain the advantages of design of experiments over a trial-and-error

strategy.

In trial and error strategies, an informal "intuitive" analysis is carried out and
sometimes improvements are achieved despite the fact that the experiment was
based on trial and error, although in complex situations it is not enough to apply
this type of experimentation, so it is better to always proceed in an efficient way
that guarantees obtaining the answers to the questions posed in a short period of
time and using few resources.
Statistical design is the most efficient way of testing. It consists of determining
which tests should be performed and in what way, in order to obtain data that,
when statistically analyzed, will provide objective evidence to answer the questions
posed and thus clarify the uncertain aspects of a process, solve a problem or
achieve improvements.

2. What is an experiment and what is designing an experiment?

Experiments are tests that are done with the intention of solving a problem or
testing an idea. It is common for these tests to be done on the fly, based on trial
and error, appealing to experience and intuition, instead of following a proper
experimental plan that guarantees a good answer to the questions posed.
Designing an experiment consists of planning and carrying out a set of tests with
the objective of generating data that, when analyzed statistically, will provide
objective evidence to answer the questions posed by the experimenter about a
given situation.

3. In the context of a design of experiments, what is a response variable,

what is a studied factor? and what relationship would be expected
between the variable and the factors?

A response variable helps to know the effect or results of each experimental test.
The factors studied are the variables that are investigated in the experiment to
observe how they affect or influence the response variable. The relationship
between the two concepts is that the factors studied in turn study the response
variable.

4. In an experiment is it only possible to study the factors that are currently

controlled in the normal operation of the process?
These factors can be controllable or non-controllable for a factor to be studied it is
necessary that during the experiment it has been tested in at least 2 conditions or
levels

5. Is it possible to study how a factor influences the response variable, if the

factor remains fixed in all experimental runs or trials? Explain.

If a given study factor remains fixed in all experimental runs, it will NOT be possible
to study the effect it has on a given response variable, because since the levels of
a factor do not vary, it is not possible to accept or discard its effect on the result.

6. We have an experiment in which the factors to be studied and their levels

are the following: temperature (10, 20 and 30 °C); time (60 and 90 minutes).
List all possible treatments for this design.

FA: Temperature: Levels (10, 20, 30) °C

FB: Time: Levels (60, 90) minutes

The resulting combination will be: 2 x 3 = 6 treatments; and these will be:

1) FA-10-60
2) FA-10-90
3) FA-20-60
4) FA-20-90
5) FA-30-60
6) FA-30-90

7. What is random error and what is experimental error?

Random error is the type of error that naturally generates variability in the process
and cannot be explained by the factors studied.

Experimental error is the type of error that is generated when serious errors are
made in the experiment, and which cannot be determined as random error.

8. Why is it important to randomize the order in which the different

treatments are run in a design of experiments?
Because it increases the probability that the assumption of independence of errors
is met, which is a requirement for the validity of the statistical tests performed.

It also allows small variations caused by materials, equipment and uncontrolled

factors to be spread evenly over all treatments.

9. Point out the stages in the design of an experiment, as well as some key
aspects each of them.

Planning and implementation: These are activities aimed at understanding,

delimiting the problem and the object of study, and selecting response variables
and factors.

2.-Analysis: Use inferential statistical methods to see if the sample differences are
large enough to warrant population differences.

3.-Interpretation: Analyze every detail of what happened in the experiment and

choose a treatment.

4.-Control and Final Conclusions: Decide what measures to implement to ensure

that improvements are sustained.

10. Why is the planning of the experiment considered the most important
stage?

Because it is here where the problem is defined, the controllable factors that could
have an influence are determined and the most appropriate experimental plan is
designed, with which the process runs are specified, i.e. which treatments and how
many repetitions of each one.

11. Briefly describe the three basic principles of design of experiments.

-Randomization: It consists of making experimental runs in random order.

-Repetition: Is running a treatment or combination of factors more than once.

-Blocking: It is to nullify or adequately take into account all factors that may affect
the observed response.

12. Explain the difference between practical significance and statistical

significance. Propose an example where you have the latter but not the
former.

The difference lies in the fact of the practical application of the findings, and their
relevance for strategic decision making. Although it is known that the existence of
statistical significance indicates that there is variability in a certain characteristic of
the sample, this does not ensure that the difference is sufficient to make practical
market (or discipline-specific) decisions. This is when the researcher's judgment
takes on great relevance in determining how to act based on the results.

EXAMPLE

Evaluate the effectiveness of an advertising campaign in terms of recall before and

after launching it. It could be the case that, given the large sample size, the results
of a hypothesis test indicate that there is a statistically significant difference in
recall before and after the campaign, but recall has increased by only 1 or 2
percentage points. So for practical purposes the difference is not significant when
considering all the money and effort invested.

13. Describe five aspects that are relevant when selecting the experimental
design.

1. The objective of the experiment.

2. The number of factors to be studied.

3. The number of levels being tested on each factor.

4. The effects to be investigated (factor-response relationship).

5. The cost of the experiment, time and desired accuracy.

14. Name two problems in your area of work that could be addressed with
design of experiments. For each problem list some control factors and at
least one response variable.
Decomposition of food in a restaurant: The asepsis, the time it takes to be
consumed, the safety of the elements used for food preparation and storage can
be controlled. A response variable could be the time it takes to present
contamination.

Fruit crops (apples): Factors to control, irrigation of the trees, fertilization of the
trees, pesticides, pesticides or some other method of inhibiting the presence of
pathogenic microorganisms. Response variables: number of fruits per experimental
unit (tree), fruit weight.

15. Suppose you want to study the performance of an automobile, and you
want to find the factors that most influence its performance. What could be
the response variables, what are the factors to be studied, what are the
uncontrollable or noise factors?

 Response variables:

Fuel efficiency

Maximum speed reached

Security

 Factors to be studied:

Performance Km/L of fuel

Velocity and acceleration.

Vehicle response to an accident or road accident, air bag system, type of brakes.

 Non-controllable factors:

Gasoline tank capacity

Engine horsepower and/or revolutions per minute.

Environmental factors affecting the development of the study vehicles.

16. You want to compare the wear of two brands of tires A and B, for which
10 private drivers of a certain city are chosen at random. Five of them,
selected at random, are installed free of charge with brand A tires and the
remaining five with brand B tires, with a written commitment to allow wear
verification every six months.

a) Do you think this experiment allows a fair comparison of the wear of the
two brands of tires?

NO

b) What considerations should have been made to achieve a fairer

comparison?

That the use of the vehicle is similar, the roads or conditions where it is driven are
the same, the tires are properly calibrated.
c) Propose at least one change to the experiment that you believe would
improve the comparison.

The number of vehicles used for the analysis should be larger, since a larger
number of experimental units can provide greater reliability to the results obtained.

17. A pharmaceutical company conducted an experiment to test the average

times (in days), which are necessary for a person to recover from the effects
and complications following a common cold. In this experiment, people
taking different daily doses of vitamin C were compared. To carry out the
experiment, a certain number of people were contacted and as soon as they
got a cold, they started to receive some kind of dose. If the age of individuals
is a possible source of variability, explain in detail how you would apply the
lock-in idea to control such a source of variability.
Because people at different ages would cause a variability of data or results
considering as a non-controllable factor would be health, in addition to their
immune systems would not be in a parameter by not considering a system with
blockade, which would give us reliable results by having samples or people of the
same ages.
Another controllable factor could be gender to compare which of the two requires a
higher dose and the time it takes to recover from the effects of a common cold.

18. In the above case, what could happen if the possible source of variation,
which is age, is not controlled?
We would be making an experimental error, which would clearly affect our results,
causing the analysis to be statistically wrong.

19. A group of researchers is working to industrialize prickly pear jam; to do

so, they make jams considering the following factors: a) variety of prickly
pear: three types, b) with or without peel, c) whole or pure pulp. Therefore,
there are 12 possible ways (treatments) to produce jam.
The central question they ask themselves is whether the factors considered
influence the flavor, and they would like to find out which is the best jam
combination (winning treatment). To answer they made the 12 combinations
and put each one in a numbered container. Then they moved to crowded
places where they arranged the containers in order from 1 to 12, and people
from the public were given a record sheet and invited them to taste the jams
in small portions in the given order and to write down how good they thought
the jam was (in a grade between O to 10). In the end, 420 people responded,
each giving 12 ratings (one for each jam). Is there anything that from your
point of view invalidates the results obtained? Use common sense and argue
your answer.
Yes, the order in which the treatments were placed because the type of design to
be used must be taken into account and these can be: complete randomized
design, complete randomized block design, Latin square design and Greco-Latin
square design, according to the objective of the study.According to the objective of
the study, these can be designs to compare 2 or more treatments, design to study
the effect of several factors on the response, design to determine the optimum
operating point of the process, design for the optimization of a mixture and design
for the product or process insensitive to non-controllable factors. Considering the
above, the design could have been used to study the effect of several factors on
the response, since we are really looking for the process or the jam with the best
flavor in combination with the different treatments proposed.