CGCR 501 – Research Methods

Assoc. Prof. Dr. İbrahim Kahramanoğlu

Postharvest Expert | Horticultural Scientist
Lecture Contents
Weeks Contents
Week 1 Introduction / description of course outline
Week 2 Research steps, basic concepts and ethics
Week 3 Scientific Research & Literature Review
Week 4 Selecting a research topic
Week 5 Searching literature
Week 6 Research Types
Week 7 Qualitative and quantitative research methods
Week 8 Primary and secondary data collection methods
Week 9 Plagiarism
Week 10 Preparing bibliography
Week 11 Writing a research proposal
Week 12 Student presentations
Week 13 Student presentations
Week 14 Student presentations
Research Types and Classifications
 The importance of deciding to research type:

 Type of research is the most important determinant of its scientific quality

 When the appopriate research design is selected, the probability of

publication increases

 Method is everyting.. Right method brings you to right point…

Research (study) design
 Design is the plan or protocol used in doing research

 Different research types have a different advantages and disadvantages

Selection/deciding on the choice of research design

 The purpose of the research

 The questions of the research
 Available informations
 Available money/resources and time
 Frequency of the event/disease to be examined
 Type and availability of information
Classification (types) of researches
 Different approaches in classifications can be grouped according to:

1) The purpose or utility (Research Types I: Basic or Applied)

2) The data type (Research Types II: Qualitative or Quantitative)

3) Data collection method

4) Location of the research

5) Directionality of the research

6) Participants/units of study

7) Role of the researcher

1) The purpose or utility (Research Types I:
Basic or Applied)
 Basic research aims at expanding knowledge by creating new theories and
modifying existing ones,

 And applied research is focused on providing practical solutions to specific

problems by analyzing empirical evidence.

https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2019/not-so-basic-research-the-unrecognized-importance-
of-fundamental-scientific-discoveries/
1) The purpose or utility (Research Types I:
Basic or Applied)
Basic Applied
Theoretical? Quick Answers?
More Invasive? Less Invasive?
Laboratory Based? Field Based?
Internal Validity?
Tightly Controlled? Loosely Controlled?
Lacks External Validity? Externally Valid?
Focus on Mechanism Focus on Effect
More Reductionist Less Reductionist.
1) The purpose or utility (Research Types I:
Basic or Applied)

 Basic Research  Applied research

 New knowledge does not
solve any problem
 Theory building
 Information is universal
 Explanatory in nature
 Generalization of new
information
 New knowledge provide
practical solution
 Technology building
 Information is limited
 Descriptive bay nature
 New knowledge is specific
1) The purpose or utility (Research Types I:
Basic or Applied)
Parameters Basic Research Applied Research
Type of knowledge Scientific discovery Technological
produced application
Motivation Intellectual curiosity Solving problems
Key questions Is it true ? Does it work ?
Objective To understand To come up with
solutions
 1) The purpose or utility (Research Types I:
Basic or Applied)
Some examples:
Subject Basic Research Applied Research
Education How does the human memory work? A study to improve classroom
interaction between teachers and
students. 

Health An investigation into the symptoms of An investigation to determine the

diarrhea.  side effects of alcohol consumption. 
Psychology What are the symptoms of anxiety What are the treatment options for
disorders?  anxiety disorders?
Basic research is like a tree trunk, from where applied
research projects can grow
Ref: https://www.pro-test-deutschland.de/en/themen/grundlagenforschung/
2) The data type (Research Types II: Qualitative or
Quantitative)
 Qualitative (Inductive - Nitel). Qualitative research is expressed in words. It is
used to understand concepts, thoughts or experiences. This type of research
enables you to gather in-depth insights on topics that are not well understood.

 Common qualitative methods include interviews with open-ended questions,

observations described in words, and literature reviews that explore concepts and
theories.

 Quantitative (Deductive - Nicel). Quantitative research is expressed in numbers

and graphs. It is used to test or confirm theories and assumptions. This type of
research can be used to establish generalizable facts about a topic.

 Common quantitative methods include experiments, observations recorded as

numbers, and surveys with closed-ended questions.
2) The data type (Research Types II: Qualitative or
Quantitative)

 A rule of thumb for deciding whether to use qualitative or quantitative

data is:

 Use qualitative research if you want to understand something (concepts,

thoughts, experiences)

 Use quantitative research if you want to confirm or test something (a

theory or hypothesis)
2) The data type (Research Types II: Qualitative or
Quantitative)
 Qualitative research approach

 You conduct in-depth interviews with 15 students and ask them open-ended
questions such as: “How satisfied are you with your studies?”, “What is the
most positive aspect of your study program?” and “What can be done to
improve the study program?”

 Based on the answers you get you can ask follow-up questions to clarify things.
You transcribe all interviews using transcription software and try to find
commonalities and patterns.

 Quantitative research approach

 You survey 300 students at your university and ask them questions such as: “on
a scale from 1-5, how satisfied are your with your professors?”
Differences among Qualitative and Quantitative
Research Methods
Qualitative Research
Focuses on exploring ideas and
formulating a theory or hypothesis
Analyzed by summarizing, categorizing
and interpreting
Mainly expressed in words
Requires few respondents
Open-ended questions
Key terms: understanding, context,
complexity, subjectivity
Quantitative research
Focuses on testing theories and
hypotheses
Analyzed through math and statistical
analysis
Mainly expressed in numbers, graphs
and tables
Requires many respondents
Closed (multiple choice) questions
Key terms: testing, measurement,
objectivity, replicability
 Types of research design can significantly vary according to your subject
and department.. There can be unique methods in medicine, psychology,
or education…

 However, for your general knowledge, I summed some very popular

methods in this section:
Qualitative Research Methods

 One-to-one interview

 Ethnography

 Focus groups

 Case Study
Qualitative Research Methods
 One-to-one interview:

 Conducting in-depth interviews is one of the most common qualitative research methods.
It is a personal interview that is carried out with one respondent at a time. This is purely a
conversational method and invites opportunities to get details in depth from the
respondent.

 One of the advantages of this method provides a great opportunity to gather precise data
about what people believe and what their motivations are. If the researcher is well
experienced asking the right questions can help him/her collect meaningful data. If they
should need more information the researchers should ask such follow up questions that
will help them collect more information.

 These interviews can be performed face-to-face or on phone and usually can last between
half an hour to two hours or even more. When the in-depth interview is conducted face to
face it gives a better opportunity to read the body language of the respondents and match
the responses.
Qualitative Research Methods
 Ethnography:

 The researcher focuses on people and their behaviors in the natural environment. The
researcher involves, observes, engages, and embeds themself into the subject’s daily life
and routine.

 The researchers experience the customs, traditions, and situations, etc., as a participant
or observer. Moreover, the researcher takes notes and describes their experience in the
descriptive form, so the reader also experiences the same culture.

 Ethnographic research is the most in-depth observational qualitative research design.

However, it is a time-consuming method and depends on the expertise of the researcher.

 It is a way of studying the culture of a group of people and describe in the form of
writing. This method aims to describe the cultural challenges in the same way as the
researcher observes.
Qualitative Research Methods
 Focus groups:

 A focus group usually includes a limited number of respondents (6-10)

from within your target group.

 The main aim of the focus group is to find answers to the “why” “what”
and “how” questions. One advantage of focus groups is, you don’t
necessarily need to interact with the group in person. Nowadays focus
groups can be sent an online survey on various devices and responses can
be collected at the click of a button.
Qualitative Research Methods
 Case Study:

 The case study method has evolved over the past few years and developed
into a valuable qual research method. As the name suggests it is used for
explaining an organization or an entity.

 This type of research method is used within a number of areas like

education, social sciences and similar. This method may look difficult to
operate, however, it is one of the simplest ways of conducting research as
it involves a deep dive and thorough understanding of the data collection
methods and inferring the data.
Quantitative Research Methods
 Survey Research

 Cross-sectional surveys

 Longitudinal surveys

 Correlational Research

 Casual-Comparative Research

 Experimental Research
Quantitative Research Methods
 Survey Research is the most elementary tool for all sorts of
quantitative research techniques. The most important purpose of the
research is to widely explain the characteristics of a particular group or
a bunch of population. This analysis is most typically employed by
both small and large organizations for a proper understanding of their
customers and to understand the merchandise and product views.

 Cross-sectional and longitudinal are two main kinds of surveys that

can be used to conduct the survey quantitative research analysis.

 The cross-sectional survey is conducted specifically on a target

population at a given purpose of time. These type of surveys are used
to conduct research mostly in retail stores, health care trade, etc.

 In a longitudinal survey, research is conducted at various time

durations. These are utilized in medicine and applied sciences.
Quantitative Research Methods
 Correlational Research is used to establish a relationship between two close entities
and to determine how one impacts the other. For this, a researcher needs at least two
separate groups. This type of research will recognize trends and patterns in data, but it
does not go so far in its analysis to observe the different patterns.

 Correlational research sometimes considered a type of descriptive research as no

variables are manipulated in the study.

 Cause and effect are not the basis of this type of observational research.

 Examples of Correlational research include the relationships between the types of

activities of mathematics classrooms and the achievement of students, the relationship
between diet and anxiety.

 This type sometimes called as observation research. Observation method is a method

under which data from the field is collected with the help of observation by the observer
or by personally going to the field.
Quantitative Research Methods
 Casual-Comparative Research is employed to conclude the cause-effect equation
between two or more variables, where one variable depends on the opposite
experimental variable. An independent variable is not manipulated by the experimenter,
and the effects of the independent variable is on the dependent variable are measured.

 This sort of analysis is not restricted to the applied mathematics of two variables but
extends to analyzing different variables and groups.

 Casual-Comparative research is a method that works on the process of comparison.

 Once analysis and conclusions are made, deciding about the causes should be done
fastidiously, as other different variables, each far-famed and unknown, might still have
an effect on the result.

 Examples of this type of research include the effect of preschool attendance on social
maturity at the end of the first grade, the impact of drugs on a teenager.
Quantitative Research Methods
 Experimental Research is usually based on one or more theories. It is
called true experimentation, uses the scientific method to establish the
cause-effect relationship among a group of variables that make up a study.
Multiple theories can be used to conduct this research. The components of
the experimental research design are prescribed below.

 A comparison group of participants who are randomly selected and

assigned to experimental and control groups.

 An independent variable, which can be referred to as the experimental

variable that can be applied to the experimental group.

 A dependent variable, which can be referred to as the effect or posttest

variable that can be measured in an identical manner for all groups.
3) According to data collection method
 Primary Data: Data that has been generated by the researcher
himself/herself, surveys, interviews, experiments, specially designed for
understanding and solving the research problem at hand. (The researcher
collects data)

 Secondary Data: are those which have been collected by someone else

and which have already been passed through the statistical process are
known as the secondary data. The data is then extracted from more varied
datafiles. (Existing researches are collected and put together; Meta
analysis, reviews and systematic reviews)
3) According to data collection method
 Methods of data collection
 Primary sources:
 Interviews
 Surveys & Questionnaires
 Observation
 Focus Groups
 Experiments
 Secondary sources:
 Data available on the internet
 Government and nongovernment agencies
 Public libraries
 Educational Institutions
 Commercial information sources
4) According to location of the research
 Laboratory/basic researches
 Clinical
 Field
5) According to directionality of the research

 For exposure/outcome relation directionality: Prospective or retrospective

 In prospective studies, individuals are followed over time and data about
them is collected as their characteristics or circumstances change. Birth
cohort studies are a good example of prospective studies.

 In retrospective studies, individuals are sampled and information is collected

about their past. This might be through interviews in which participants are
asked to recall important events, or by identifying relevant administrative
data to fill in information on past events and circumstances.
6) According to participants/units of study
 Individuals/persons
 Groups (Echological studies)
 Patients
 Population
7) According to role of the researcher
 The researcher has the role of an observer (Observational studies)

 The researcher intervenes (Interventional studies) The researcher applies

what he wants to mesure the effect.
 Additional notes on some important points

a) Selecting your research method

b) Causation and Correlation

c) Reliability and Validity

d) Surveys and Sampling

e) Experimental research designs

a) Selecting your research method
What factors to consider when choosing one research method over
another?
 Overall applicability to meet research objectives
 Time i.e. key planning and decision-making milestones to inform
 Resources available
 Material resources
 Financial resources
 Human resources
 Access to population of interest
b) Causation and Correlation
 Causation
 We are always coming up with explanations for why
things happen: why people treat us the way they do,
why plants grow best when irrigated, etc.

 When we take the idea of causation seriously, however,

it becomes complex and even threatening. 
 In order to determine causality, it is important to hold the
variable that is assumed to cause the change in the
other variable(s) constant and then measure the changes
in the other variable(s).

 This type of research is very complex and the researcher

can never be completely certain that there are not other
factors influencing the causal relationship, especially
when dealing with people’s attitudes and motivations.
 Deterministic View

 To say that X is caused by Y is to say that once Y has

happened, X will follow. 
 X has no say in the matter, no choice. 

 If the objective is to determine which variable might be

causing a certain behavior (whether there is a cause and effect
relationship between variables) causal research must be
undertaken.
 Correlation
 Correlation means that there is a relationship between two variables.
 Causation means that if you see a change in your explanatory variable, it
should cause a change in the response variable.
 Even if a correlation is very strong, this is not by itself good evidence that a
change in x will cause a change in y
 *** Correlation does not necessarily imply causation ***
 Causation v.s. Correlation
 Causation means that whenever there is a change in an explanatory variable,
it should cause in a change in the response variable.

 Correlations: Correlations between two variables are extremely common

and easy to find. However, saying that two variables are correlated in NO
way guarantees that there is causation.
How can we establish causation?

 It is highly crucial to apply a well-designed experiment

with proper control groups to prove causation.
 Reverse Causation
 Occurs when the cause and effects of a situation is confused or reversed.

Belief: XY (X causes Y)

Reality: YX (Y causes X)
 Common causal variable

 Occurs when two events/measurements are correlated and the assumption is made
that one causes the other; however, there is a “lurking” variable that is actually
contributes to the occurrence of both events/measurements.

Belief: XY (X causes Y)

Reality: ZX & ZY (Z causes both X and Y)
 Example:
 One can think that high body temperature is the cause of feeling bad.
 However, both the high body temperature and not feeling well are results of the person
contracting to the flu virus.
 The common cause here is the virus.
Oversimplification (Multiple causes)

 This fallacy occurs more often than the others in the media and horticulture. Applying a
fertilizer to the trees does not guarantee the high yield, while it is depending on many other
factors.

Belief: AZ (A causes Z)

Reality: AZ & BZ & CZ & DZ & EZ etc…
(Many factors cause Z)
 Bidirectional cause

 When two events are a result of bidirectional causation, one event causes another while the
other event causes the first. For example:

Belief: XY (X causes Y)

Reality: XY & YX (X causes Y and Y causes X)

 Example:
 The number of lions in Kenya affects the number of gazelles in Kenya (lions eat gazelles). But it is
also true that the number of gazelles in Kenya affect the number of lions in Kenya (if lions don’t have
food, they will begin to die off).
 This is called the predator/prey model.
 Coincidence

Belief: XZ
Reality: YZ

 Many times the fact that two events are correlated (linked) is
pure coincidence and there is no causal relationship that
exists between the two.
c) Reliability and Validity
Reliability and Validity

 A dataset must be both reliable and valid

 Reliability: if something was measured again using the same instrument, would it produce
the same (or nearly the same) results?
 Validity: Are you measuring what you think you are measuring?
 Reliability
Observed Score = true score + systematic error + random error

 Observed Scores are the data gathered by the researcher

 True Scores are the actual unknown values that correspond to the construct
of interest
 Systematic Error is variations that results from constructs of disinterest
 Random Error is nonsystematic variations in the observed scores
Observed Score =

Systematic
True Score Error Random Error

More Reliable:

Less Reliable:
How do we determine whether a measure is
reliable?

Types of reliability
 Test-retest
 Internal Consistency
 Split-half
 Cronbach’s alpha: average of all possible split-half
reliabilities
 Cronbach’s alpha

A reliability coefficient of .70 or higher is

considered “acceptable” in most social science
research situations
Factors that increase reliability

 Number of items
 High variation among individuals being tested
 Clear instructions
 Optimal testing situation
 Validity
 Denotes the extent to which an instrument is measuring
what it is supposed to measure.
How do we determine whether our
measures are valid?
Types of Validity
 Content
 Criterion
 Construct
Content Validity

 Whether the individual items of a test represent what you actually want to assess
 Criterion-Related Validity

 A method for assessing the validity of an instrument by

comparing its scores with another criterion known already to
be a measure of the same trait or skill.
 Criterion-related validity is usually expressed as a correlation
between the test in question and the criterion measure. The
correlation coefficient is referred to as a validity coefficient
Construct Validity

 The extent to which a test measures a theoretical construct

or attribute.

 Abstract concepts such as intelligence, self-concept,

motivation, aggression and creativity that can be observed
by some type of instrument.

 A test’s construct validity is often assessed by its

convergent and discriminant validity
d) Surveys…
 Surveys are used…

 To collect standardized information from large numbers of individuals

 When face-to-face meetings are inadvisable

 When privacy is important or independent opinions and responsesare needed

Steps in planning a Survey
 1. Decide who should be involved in the process.
 2. Define survey content.
 3. Identify your respondents.
 4. Decide on the survey method.
 5. Develop the questionnaire.
 6. Pilot test the questionnaire and other materials.
 7. Think about analysis.
 8. Communicate about your survey and its results.
 9. Develop a budget, timeline, and management process.
Notes for scaling in surveys
 A survey scale is an orderly arrangement of different survey response options. It typically
consists of a specific range of verbal or numerical options that respondents can choose
from as they provide answers to questions in a survey or questionnaire.
 Some common rating scales:
1. Not much
2. Little 1. Not much 1. Never 1. Extremely poor

3. Somewhat 2. Some 2. Seldom 2. Below average

4. Much 3. A great deal 3. Often 3. Average

5. A great deal 4. Always 4. Above average

1. Strongly disagree 5. Excellent
2. Disagree
3. Uncertain
4. Agree
5. Strongly agree
Do not forget to ask questions about demographic
characteristics!!
 Age
 Gender
 Marital status
 Family size
 Occupation
 Education
 Employment status
 Residence
 Previous contact with organization
 Prior knowledge of topic
 First-time participant vs. repeats
 How you learned about the program
 ??
Sampling for Surveys…
 There are 4 main methods used for the sample collection for quantitative researches:

 Simple random sampling: As the name indicates, simple random sampling is nothing but a
random selection of elements for a sample. This sampling technique is implemented where
the target population is considerably large.

 Stratified random sampling: In the stratified random sampling method, a large population
is divided into groups (strata), and members of a sample are chosen randomly from these
strata. The various segregated strata should ideally not overlap one another.

 Cluster sampling: Cluster sampling is a probability sampling method using which the main
segment is divided into clusters, usually using geographic and demographic segmentation
parameters.

 Systematic sampling: Systematic sampling is a technique where the starting point of the
sample is chosen randomly, and all the other elements are chosen using a fixed interval. This
interval is calculated by dividing the population size by the target sample size.
There are 4 types of administrative errors, which may cause
problems on surveys.. And researcher should consider them:

 Sample selection error: Caused by improper sample design or

sampling procedure execution
 Interviewer error: Mistakes made by interviewers who fail to
record survey responses correctly.
 Interviewer cheating: Practice by interviewers of filling in fake
answers or falsifying questionnaires.
 Data processing error: Occurs because of incorrect data entry,
incorrect computer programming, or etc.
 Classification of Survey Methods

Survey Methods

Telephone Personal Mail Electronic

In-Home Fax
Interview
E-Mail
Computer- Outside…
Assisted
Telephone
Interviewing

Computer-Assisted Internet
Personal Interviewing
 Telephone Surveys
ITEM Telephone Personnal Mail surveys
surveys interviews
Speed of data collection Very fast Fast Slow
Geographical flexibility High Moderate High
Respondent cooperation Poor Excellent Moderate
Versatility of questioning Moderate Quite High
Questionnaire length Short Mod-long Mod-long
Item nonresponse Medium Low High
Possibility of misunderstanding Average Lowest Less
Degree of interviewer influence on the Moderate High None-to-less
answer
Supervision of interviewers High Moderate None
Anonymity of respondent Moderate Low High
Ease of call back or follow-up Easy Difficult Easy
Costs Low-to-high High Moderate
Methods of Improving Response Rates

Prior
Incentives Follow-up
Notification

Monetary Nonmonetary

Prepaid Promised
 e) Experimental Research designs
Experimental
Research
Designs

True- Quasi-
Pre-experimental Statistical
experimental Experimental

One-shot case Pre-test – post- Randomized

Time series
study test control group blocks

One group pre- Post-test only Multiple time

Latine square
test – post-test control group series

Solomon four
Statis group Factorial design
group
 Pre-experimental design
 Pre-Experimental Designs are the simplest form of
experimental research designs.
 Pre-experimental designs have little or no control over
extraneous variables.
 And, these designs do not randomly assign subjects to different
treatments.
 The results of a test using a pre-experimental design are
difficult to interpret.
 These designs are often used in testing television commercials
because they are simple and relatively inexpensive.
 Pre-experimental design
 One-Shot Case Studies: With a one-shot case study, test units—
people, test markets, etc.

 One Group Pre-Test - Post-Test: With this research design the

test unit is measured twice, one before the test and once after
the test.

 Static Group Design: With the Static Group design there is a

Control Group (CG) in addition to the Experimental Group
(EG).
 True-experimental design

 True Experimental Designs are where the market researchers

assign test units to treatments at random.
 There are three basic types of True Experimental Designs:
 Post-Test Only Control Group Design,
 Pre-Test Post-Test Control Group Design, and
 Solomon Four Group Design.
 True-experimental design

 Post-Test Only Control Group Design: With this research design,

test units are randomly assigned to the experimental and control
groups.

 Pre-Test - Post-Test Control Group Design: With this research

design, test units are randomly assigned to experimental and
control groups.

 Solomon Four Group Design: The Solomon Four Group Design

is a research design that assesses the impact of pretesting on
subsequent measures
 Quasi-experimental design

 Quasi-Experimental Designs are used when the researcher

creates an artificial environment to control for extraneous
variables.
 With quasi-experimental designs, the research lacks control
over when the treatment is administered or assigns test units to
the experimental and control groups in a non-random fashion.
 There are two basic types of quasi-experimental designs:
 Time Series and
 Multiple Time Series.
 Quasi-experimental design

 Time Series: There is no randomization of the test units to the

treatments. The timing of the treatment presentation as well as
which test unites are exposed to the treatment may not be
within the researcher's control

 Multiple Time Series: With the Multiple Time Series, the

researchers add a control group to the research design. The
addition of a control group enhances the researchers' ability to
discern the treatment effect.
 Statistical design
 Statistical Designs are a collection of basic experimental designs that
offer researchers the ability to statistically control and analyze external
variables. The most commonly used Statistical Research Designs are
 the Randomized Block Design,
 the Latin Square Design, and
 the Factorial Design.
 These designs offer the following advantages:
 The effects of multiple independent variables on the dependent
variable can be measured,
 Specific extraneous variables can be statistically controlled, and
 Each test unit can be measured more than once with these
economically efficient designs.
 Experimental Design
 Why experimental design is important ?
 to have reliable data

 What makes a design good/bad ?

 Side effects
 Blocks
 Number of treatments
 Number of replications
 Error (as a general rule, Degrees of fredom (Df) of ERROR must be above 11)
 etc.
 An experiment deliberately imposes a treatment on a
group of objects or subjects in the interest of observing
the response.

 This differs from an observational study, which involves

collecting and analyzing data without changing existing
conditions. Because the validity of an experiment is
directly affected by its construction and execution,
attention to experimental design is extremely important.
 Treatment: is something that researchers administer to experimental units.

 Factor: is a controlled independent variable; a variable whose levels are set

by the experimenter.

 Replication: Although randomization helps to insure that treatment groups

are as similar as possible, the results of a single experiment, applied to a
small number of objects or subjects, should not be accepted without
question. To improve the significance of an experimental result, replication,
the repetition of an experiment on a large group of subjects, is required.
 If we have one type of factor, we can use,
 The Completely Randomized design,
 The Randomized Complete Block Design or
 Latin squares.

 If we have more than one factor, such as water and

sunlight, we must move on to the designs of
 Simple Factorial,
 Split Plot and etc.
Factor(s)

Interaction(s)

Error(s)

Total
The Completely Randomized design
 The area should be % 100 homogeneous to do this
design

D C D B Sources of Degrees of freedom

Variance
A D C A
Treatment 4 (#treatment) -1 = 3
C B A B Error 15-3=12
B D A C Total 16 (total parcel) -1 = 15
 Example of a simple Completely Randomized Design with five treatments (BP1-3, negative and
positive controls), and eight replicates.
Holmes, K. (2019). Biopesticides manual: guidelines for selecting, sourcing,
producing and using biopesticides for key pests of tobacco. CABI.
The Randomized Complete Block Design
 In this design, there is an effect from one way of the
area; “All treatments must take place in the blocks
which are vertical to effect way”

C A D B Sources of Degrees of freedom

Variance
A C B D Treatment 3
Replication 4 (replication no) -1 = 3
C D B A Error 15-3-3 = 9
Total 15
B A D C

Effect
 Example of a Randomized Complete Block Design
with three blocks, and seven treatments for one
replicate randomized within each block (thus n=3).

Holmes, K. (2019). Biopesticides manual: guidelines for selecting, sourcing,

producing and using biopesticides for key pests of tobacco. CABI.
Latin Square Design
 In this design there is an effect from the both sides;

A B C D Sources of Variance
Treatment
B C D A Row
Column
C D A B
Error
D A B C Total
Factorial designs

 Factorial design involves having more than one independent variable, or factor, in a study.
Factorial designs allow researchers to look at how multiple factors affect a dependent
variable, both independently and together.
Simple Factorial
Example; 3 conditions of A and 4 conditions of B

1. Replication 2. Replication
A2 – B2 A0 – B0 Sources of Degrees of
A1 – B1 A1 – B3 Variance Fredom
A0 – B0 A1 – B1
Replication 2-1=1
A0 – B1 A2 – B2
Factor A 3-1=2
A2 – B0 A0 – B2
A1 – B3 A2 – B0 Factor B 4-1=3
A0 – B2 A1 – B0 Interaction 2 (Fac. A) x (Fac.
A2 – B1 A0 – B3 B) 2 =6
A0 – B3 A2 – B1 Error 24-6-3-2-1=12
A1 – B2 A0 – B1 Total 24
A1 – B0 A2 – B3
A2 – B3 A1 – B2
Split Plots
1. Replication 2. Replication
B0 B0
Sources of Degrees of
B1 B2 Variance Fredom
A0 A2
B2 B1
B3 B3 Replication 2-1=1
B2 B3 Factor A 3-1=2
B0 B2 Error-1 24-6-2-1=13
A1 A0
B1 B0 Factor B 4-1=3
B3 B1 Error-2 24-3-3-1=12
B1 B3 Interaction 3x2=6
B3 B0
A2 A1 Total 24
B2 B2
B0 B1
Thanks

Q/A