1. In a factory, suppose there are 3 different production lines which make circuit boards. Each production line uses different machinery and personnel. A plant manager wants to test which production line is "better." What are two possible response variables that can be measured in an experiment to test which is "best?"
2. Suppose four different methods are used to refine an oil product. Each method may result in a different viscosity of the product. Each method is applied to one barrel of oil at a time which results in one batch of product. A company wants to use the method which results in the lowest viscosity and they want to design an experiment to test this.
a) What are the experimental units in this experiment?
b) If the company is willing to spend enough money for only producing 32 batches, how many replications will we have?
c) What are the treatments and how many do we have?
d) What is the response variable?
e) Suppose 3 different plants use each of these 4 methods. Each plant is willing to be involved in the experiment. Each plant will produce 16 batches. Explain how the use of blocking should be incorporated into our experiment. Give a plan for conducting this experiment by explaining how each plant will use which method. Be sure to include a randomization scheme.
3. A rigorous test has been designed for metal compounds. This test increases the rate of oxidation of these metals to represent years of exposure to weather. Four different metal compounds are under consideration for manufacturing a machine component and each will be tested for oxidation.
a) What is the treatment in this experiment?
b) What is the response variable?
c) If we have 5 samples of each metal compound, how many experimental units do we have total?