QUEEN MARY, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON MTH6116

Assignment 4

Design of Experiments
For discussion on 10th February 2011

Work on your solutions beforehand so you can participate in the discussion. 1 In Statistical Modelling II it was mentioned that the two-sample t-test (assuming equal variances in the populations) and the matched pairs or paired t-test are related to the analysis of variance for completely randomized designs and randomized block designs respectively. (a) Show that the test of H0 : 1 = . . . = t for equality of treatment eects in a completely randomized experiment with t = 2 treatments and the two-sample t-test are equivalent. (b) Similarly, show equivalence between the test of H0 : 1 = . . . = t for a randomized block design with t = 2 treatments and b blocks and the matched pairs t-test for b pairs. Hint for the completely randomized design with t = 2 treatments: gure out how the test statistic in the analysis of variance and the test statistic of the two-sample t-test are related; also nd out how the distributions of these two statistics are related. Approach the part for the randomized block design in the same manner. 2 A group of ecologists is planning an experiment to compare 36 species of small insects for their eect in decomposing a mixture of leaves. Identical quantities of the leaf mixture will be put into 180 glass jars. For each species, several insects will be put into each of ve jars. The jars will then be covered with transparent lm and left on the bench in the laboratory for several weeks before the amount of leaf decomposition is measured. Because of the shape of the available bench space, the jars must be arranged in a 5 36 rectangle. One row of jars is next to the window and receives the most sunlight; the fth row receives the least. The ecologists suggest the following dierent methods of dealing with this dierence in sunlight. (a) Place the 180 jars in their positions in the rectangle in a haphazard manner. It is then likely that no species is especially favored. (b) Start as above. Each morning, rearrange the jars within each column by moving the jar nearest to the window to the position furthest from the window, and moving all the other jars in that column one place nearer to the window. That way, dierences in sunlight should be averaged for each jar. 1

(c) Treat each row as a block. Put one jar of each species in each row. In each row independently, choose a random permutation of 1, . . . , 36 and use it to randomize the positions of the jars in that row. The dierences in sunlight will be allowed for in the analysis. (d) Put all ve jars for each species into a single column, to ensure that each species is exposed to the full range of sunlight conditions. Choose a single random permutation of 1, . . . , 36 and use it to allocate species to columns. Advise the ecologists of the advantages and disadvantages of these methods. 3 A physician wants to test a new drug to compare it with the current standard drug. He would like to have 90% power for detecting a dierence of 15 units if he does a two-sided hypothesis test at the 5% signicance level. He believes that in the population, 2 is about 100, for measurements in those units. (a) If he uses r people for each drug, what is the smallest value of r that he should use? (b) What would be the smallest value of r if there was a third drug (also being replicated r times)? (c) With the design you proposed in (a), which would be the power to detect a shift of 10 units between treatments?