Design of Experiments Damian Andrade Sanchez

What are the primary relationships between the design of experiments, science, and
quantitative research? Why measurement is so important for engineering design and
development?
To know what are the primary relationships between design of experiment, science and
quantitative research, first we must know the definition of each of these concepts. According
to Wagner Jr., Mount and Giles Jr., in their book titled “Extrusion”, second edition 2014, the
design of experiments (DOE) is a systematic approach to understanding how process and
product parameters affect response variables such as processability, physical properties, or
product performance. It is a tool similar to any other tool, device, or procedure that makes
the job easier. On another hand, we know that science is the pursuit and application of
knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic
methodology based on evidence. However, according to Lucas-Alfieri, in his book
“Marketing the 21st Century Library”, 2015, quantitative research is a method of research
that relies on measuring variables using a numerical system, analyzing these measurements
using any of a variety of statistical models, and reporting relationships and associations
among the studied variables.
Knowing the above, we can say that the primary relationships between these perceptions are
that all three concepts use a systematic algorithm either to know the relation of process
performance and the response of variables, to know and understand the social and natural
world or measure specific variables in research. As we can see, these three concepts have a
close relationship, for example, in the field of structural engineering, knowing that every
attempt of understanding how something works based on evidence can be defined as science,
we could try to understand why seismic waves fracture and damage the foundation of tall
buildings where DOE enters when we try to define the importance of a well-designed
foundation and the way to control our variables, such as type of soil, temperature, concrete
mix and the state of the steel, to optimize our structural design performance while
maximizing the performance. And obviously this work will be a quantitative research
because we will be relying on measuring our variables using a specific numerical system
wherein the end, we’ll know the relationships and associations among the studied variables,
thus knowing why seismic waves affect the foundation of tall buildings.
Measurement is a fundamental element in engineering. Engineering is a scientific field that
involves taking our scientific understanding of the natural world and using it to invent,
design, and build things to solve problems and achieve practical goals. So, as we can see
measurement is basically the keyword in engineering. To answer the question, measurement
is important to engineering design and development because with an exact and concise
measurement we can offer a secure, effective and efficient design. In the field of structural
engineering, measurement is indispensable since all our designs, analysis and calculations
depend on an effective measurement. For example, in structural work, it's necessary to
measure the load capacity of the soil where we want to construct, the compression force of
our concrete and the tensile strain in the steel that we want o use for the model. In conclusion,
measurement is basically the root of every engineering work a design.