Design and Analysis of

Experiments L29
BITS Pilani Dr. Sachin Waigaonkar
K K Birla Goa Campus
Randomized Block Designs

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

Randomized Block Designs

• A randomized block design is a type of experiment where

observations those share certain characteristics are grouped
together to form blocks, and then the treatment (or intervention)
gets randomly assigned within each block.
• The objective of the randomized block design is to form groups
where observations are similar and therefore can be compared
with each other.

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

Example: Comparing Formulations based on
cleaning efficiency for fuel injector

E1 E2 E3
A 45 43 51
B 47 46 52
C 48 50 55
D 42 37 49

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
Case Study

• A hardness testing machine operates by pressing a

tip into a metal test “coupon.”
• The hardness of the coupon can be determined from the
depth of the resulting depression.
• Four tip types are being tested to see if they
produce significantly different readings.
• The coupons might differ slightly in their hardness (for
example, if they are taken from ingots produced in different
heats).
• Thus coupon is a nuisance factor, which can be
treated as a blocking factor.
• Since coupons are large enough to test four tips , a RCBD
can be used, with one coupon as a block.
• Four blocks were used. Within each block (coupon) the order
in which the four tips were tested was randomly determined.

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

Hardness Test Data

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus

Thanks

BITS Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus