Majd Shhadi, PhD
First Semester 2018/2019
1
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
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Science answers questions with experiments
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
Define The Problem
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Begin by asking a question about your topic
What is a good question for an experiment?
One that is testable with the materials at hand
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
Hypothesis
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Now we need a hypothesis to guide our investigation
What is a hypothesis?
Your best thinking about how the change you make might affect
another factor.
Tentative or trial solution to the question.
An if ………… then ………… statement.
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
Design an Experiment
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Must design an experiment that will test your hypothesis.
This experiment will allow you to change some conditions or
variables to test your hypothesis.
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
Introduction to Design of Experiments
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Variables: All the factors, their levels and all the measured traits
(responses) are variables (Variables are things that change).
Independent or class variables: Factors applied to the experimental
units are independent variables. Is the variable that is purposely
changed. It is the manipulated variable.
Response or dependent variables: Measured or observed traits in
the experiment. Changes in response to the independent variable.
The strength of the paper measured after ‘treated’ with starch is a
response (or dependent) variable
Majd Shhadi, PhD
Categorical vs. Quantitative Variables
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Variables can be classified as categorical (qualitative) or
quantitative (numerical).
Categorical variables take on values that are names or labels. The
color of a ball (e.g., red, green, blue).
Quantitative variables are numerical. They represent a
measurable quantity. For example, when we speak of the
population of a city.
Majd Shhadi, PhD
Categorical Variable Characteristics
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Recorded usually with words.
Records which of several groups an individual belongs to.
Count data in each group, but you logically should not average it.
Includes all yes/no questions
Categorical variables that have only two possible outcomes (e.g.,
"yes" vs. "no" or "success" vs. "failure") are known as binary
variables (or Bernoulli variables).
Graphing: best illustrated with a pie chart (but could also be a bar
graph)
Majd Shhadi, PhD
Quantitative Variable Characteristics
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Possible responses are numerical in nature
Includes values for which it makes sense to do operations like
adding, totaling and averaging
Includes answers to how much/how many questions
Always includes ‘units’
Graphing: best illustrated with a bar chart
Majd Shhadi, PhD
Discrete vs. Continuous Variables
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Quantitative variables can be further
classified as discrete or continuous. Categorical
(Qualitative)
If a variable can take on any value
between two specified values, it is
called a continuous variable (i.e., it’s Variables Discrete
a number & it can be any value)
Usually a variable that can be Quantitative
‘measured’. (Numerical)
If the variable is a sets of isolated Continuous
points on the number line, it is called a
discrete (i.e., it’s a number but it only
comes in certain values) Usually a
variable that can be ‘counted’.
Majd Shhadi, PhD
Categorical or Quantitative
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If Categorical, one possible category?
If Quantitative, Continuous or Discrete? Units?
1. Subject of a book?
2. Number of pages in the book?
3. Area of each page of book?
4. Number of letters on a page?
Majd Shhadi, PhD
Introduction to Design of Experiments
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Factor
A factor of an experiment is a controlled independent variable
whose levels are set by the experimenter.
➢ The effect of additive on paper strength (additive is a factor).
❑ Constants or Controlled Variables: Factors that are kept the same
and not allowed to change.
❑ It is important to control all but one variable at a time to be able
to interpret data.
Treatment
A treatment is a level (amount) of factor applied to the experimental
units.
Majd Shhadi, PhD
Single-factor Design
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Example I
Response variable :Yield from a chemical process (conversion of the
raw materials to final product)
Begin with experiments involving a single factor
Amount of catalyst used in the process
Majd Shhadi, PhD
Introduction to Design of Experiments
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Example I
Response variable
Yield from a chemical process (conversion of the raw materials to
final product)
Factors
Factor A: Temperature at which process is run
Factor B: Amount of catalyst used in the process
Majd Shhadi, PhD
Two-factor Design
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In this experiment
Factor A (temperature) is at three levels, 20, 30, and 45oC
Factor B (mass of catalyst) is at two levels, 100 and 150 kg
Note that for each
combination of
treatment levels,
we have 2
observations of the
response variable
(duplicate)
Majd Shhadi, PhD
Four-factor Design
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Example II
Response: conversion
Factor A: Temperature (50, 100, 150, 200 oC)
Factor B: Pressure (5, 10, 15 MPa)
Factor C: Mass of Catalyst (100, 200, 300 g)
Factor D: degree of agitation (500, 1000 rpm)
The importance of designing experiments really kicks in for multi-
factor experiments
Majd Shhadi, PhD
Materials and Procedures
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A description of what you will use for your experiment, and how you
will do it.
Be sure to include:
Listing of the Variables
Repeated Trials
Drawing of Apparatus (if applicable)
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
How will you vary the Independent
Variable?
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How many different values of the independent variable should we
test?
3 ? 5? 10? The more the better?
Repeated Trials
What are repeated trials?
The number of times that a value of the independent variable is
tested.
Why are repeated trials necessary?
They reduce the possibility of chance errors affecting the results.
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
Drawing of Experiment
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Include Labels to clearly identify the important parts of the
experimental setup
Level of solution
Angle of refraction
Beaker filled with sugar solution
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
Qualitative Observations and Results
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What are qualitative observations?
They are what you perceive that occurred during the course of your
experiment. They are identification of trends in the data.
What are quantitative observations?
Numbers in the form of raw data displayed in data tables and
graphs
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
Sample Data Table
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Title: The Effect of the independent variable on the dependent
variable
Column for
Column for dependent Column for derived
independent
variable quantity
variable
Label – with units if necessary –
Label – with units if multiple trials included Label – with units if
necessary necessary. Example =
average of trials
1 2 3
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
Sample Data Table
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Title: The Effect of the independent variable on the dependent
variable
Dependent Variable –
include units and an
appropriate scale
Independent Variable
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
Analysis and Interpretation of Results
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This is where you describe in words what is illustrated by your data
as shown in your table and graph.
You also describe the meaning of the results.
Possible Experimental Errors
What factors in your materials or procedure might have had an
impact on your results?
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
Conclusion
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Why or why not your results supported or did not support the
hypothesis.
Hypotheses are never “wrong”. They are either supported or not
supported.
Include reasons for the hypothesis to be supported or unsupported.
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
Recommendations for Further Experimentation
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What are some practical applications of your results?
What other questions that could be tested arise from your results?
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
What kind of question would you ask?
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Materials provided: sugar, stir sticks, access to warm and cold
water and ice, thermometers, beakers, object that floats partially
submerged in water, graph paper, jumbo paper clip, straws, rulers,
protractor
Come up with a question related to solutions
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
Possible Questions
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Effects of temperature on solubility
Effects of concentration on depth object sinks in solution
Effects of stirring on solubility
Effects of concentration on height of solution rising in straw
Effect of amount of sugar dissolved on temperature of solution
Effect of temperature on how long a set amount of sugar required
to dissolve.
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
Possible Hypotheses
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If we raise the temperature then the solubility will ???
If we increase the sugar concentration then the height of solution
rising in the straw will ???
If we dissolve more sugar in the solution then the temperature
will ???
Prof. Amer EL-Hamouz
One-Variable-At-a-Time (OVAT) experiments
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Engineers and scientists often perform one-factor-at-a time (OFAT)
or One-Variable-At-a-Time (OVAT) experiments, which vary only
one factor or variable at a time while keeping others fixed.
This approach depends upon guesswork, luck, experience and
intuition for its success.
Moreover, this type of experimentation requires large resources to
obtain a limited amount of information about the process.
OVAT experiments often are unreliable, inefficient, time consuming
and may yield false optimum condition for the process.
Majd Shhadi, PhD
One-Variable-At-a-Time (OVAT) experiments
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An engineer is interested in measuring the yield of a chemical
process, which is influenced by two key process variables (or control
factors).
The engineer decides to perform an experiment to study the effects
of these two variables on the process yield.
The engineer uses an OVAT approach to experimentation.
The first step is to keep the temperature constant (T1) and vary the
pressure from P1 to P2.
The next step is to keep the pressure constant (P1) and vary the
temperature from T1 to T2
Majd Shhadi, PhD
One-Variable-At-a-Time (OVAT) experiments
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The experiment is repeated twice and the results are illustrated in
the following Tables
Majd Shhadi, PhD
One-Variable-At-a-Time (OVAT) experiments
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The engineer has calculated the average yield values for only
three combinations of temperature and pressure: (T1, P1), (T1, P2)
and (T2, P1).
The question then arises as to what should be the average yield
corresponding to the combination (T2, P2)?
The engineer was unable to study this combination as well as the
interaction between temperature and pressure.
The OVAT approach to experimentation can be misleading and
may lead to unsatisfactory experimental conclusions in real life
situations.
Majd Shhadi, PhD
