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Article
Publication date: 27 September 2019

Nuno Costa

The purpose of this paper is to address misconceptions about the design of experiments (DoE) usefulness, avoid bad practices and foster processes’ efficiency and products’ quality…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to address misconceptions about the design of experiments (DoE) usefulness, avoid bad practices and foster processes’ efficiency and products’ quality in a timely and cost-effective manner with this tool.

Design/methodology/approach

To revisit and discuss the hindrances to DoE usage as well as bad practices in using this tool supported on the selective literature from Web of Science and Scopus indexed journals.

Findings

A set of recommendations and guidelines to mitigate DoE hindrances and avoid common errors or wrong decisions at the planning, running and data analysis phases of DoE are provided.

Research limitations/implications

Errors or wrong decisions in planning, running and analyzing data from statistically designed experiments are always possible so the expected results from DoE usage are not always 100 percent guaranteed.

Practical implications

Novice and intermediate DoE users have another perspective for developing and improving their “test and learn” capability and be successful with DoE. To appropriately plan and run statistically designed experiments not only save the user of DoE from incorrect decisions and depreciation of their technical competencies as they can optimize processes’ efficiency and products’ quality (reliability, durability, performance, robustness, etc.) in a structured, faster and cheaper way at the design and manufacturing stages.

Social implications

DoE usefulness will be increasingly recognized in industry and academy and, as consequence, better products can be made available for consumers, business performance can improve, and the link between industry and academy can be strengthened.

Originality/value

A supplemental perspective on how to succeed with DoE and foster its usage among managers, engineers and other technical staff is presented.

Book part
Publication date: 3 June 2008

Glenn W. Harrison and E. Elisabet Rutström

We review the experimental evidence on risk aversion in controlled laboratory settings. We review the strengths and weaknesses of alternative elicitation procedures, the strengths…

Abstract

We review the experimental evidence on risk aversion in controlled laboratory settings. We review the strengths and weaknesses of alternative elicitation procedures, the strengths and weaknesses of alternative estimation procedures, and finally the effect of controlling for risk attitudes on inferences in experiments.

Details

Risk Aversion in Experiments
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-84950-547-5

Article
Publication date: 13 February 2019

Jiju Antony, Stavros Karamperidis, Frenie Antony and Elizabeth A. Cudney

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the power of experimental design as a technique to understand and evaluate the most important factors which influence teaching…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the power of experimental design as a technique to understand and evaluate the most important factors which influence teaching effectiveness for a postgraduate course in a higher education (HE) context.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology involves the execution of a case study in the form of an experiment in a business school setting. The experiment was carried out with the assistance of over 100 postgraduate students from 26 countries. The data were collected over a two year period (2015 and 2016) from a postgraduate course offered by the same tutor for repeatability reasons.

Findings

The key findings of the experiment have clearly indicated that students’ perceptions of teaching effectiveness based on intuition and guesswork are not identical to the outcomes from a simple designed experiment. Moreover, the results of the experiment provided a greater stimulus for the wider applications of the technique to other processes across the case study HE sector.

Research limitations/implications

One of the limitations of the study is that the experiment was conducted for a popular postgraduate course. It would be beneficial to understand the results of the experiment for less popular postgraduate courses in the university in order to drive improvements. Moreover, this research was conducted only for postgraduate courses and the results may vary for undergraduate courses. This would be an interesting study to understand the differences in the factors between undergraduate and postgraduate teaching effectiveness.

Practical implications

The outcome of this experiment would help everyone who is involved in teaching to understand the factors and their influences to improve students’ satisfaction scores during the delivery of teaching.

Originality/value

This paper shows how experimental design as a pure manufacturing technique can be extended to a HE setting.

Details

International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 36 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-671X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 21 August 2012

Shane Greenstein

Purpose – What role did economic experiments play in creating value in the commercial market for wireless Internet access? Rosenberg (1992, p. 181) defines such experiments…

Abstract

Purpose – What role did economic experiments play in creating value in the commercial market for wireless Internet access? Rosenberg (1992, p. 181) defines such experiments broadly, “to include experimentation with new forms of economic organization as well as the better-known historical experiments that have been responsible for new products and new manufacturing technologies.”

Design/methodology/approach – The chapter provides an overview of the experience of a number of firms, focusing on the period between the late 1990s and early part of the 21st century, when the technology first blossomed in commercial markets. The chapter uses the experience of Lucent and Intel as primary illustrations of key concepts, and the chapter discusses how the framework generalizes beyond the experience of these two firms.

Findings – The distinction between directed and undirected experiments helps understand events in the evolution of Wi-Fi's value. They also bring new perspective to an extensive debate in communications policy about the best way to assign and allocate spectrum, focusing on the importance of the regulatory decision to provide space in which experiments can take place.

Originality/value – This framework has value for business history of the commercial Internet. This lens stresses the importance of preserving discretion to move business away from applications with low value, namely, away from allocations that used a conceptualization of the technology founded on a poor-use case, which later lessons showed had lower value than alternatives.

Details

History and Strategy
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78190-024-6

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 March 2016

Robin Bouwman and Stephan Grimmelikhuijsen

Based on previous inventories, the purpose of this paper is to extend the knowledge on public administration experiments by focusing on their experimental type, design, sample…

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Abstract

Purpose

Based on previous inventories, the purpose of this paper is to extend the knowledge on public administration experiments by focusing on their experimental type, design, sample type and realism levels and external validity. The aim is to provide an overview of experimental public administration and formulate potential ways forward.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors examine the current state of experimental public administration, by looking at a systematic selection of ISI ranked experimental publications in major public administration journals (1992-2014) and recommend ways forward based on this review.

Findings

The review indicates a rise in experimentation in public administration in recent years, this can be attributed mostly to some subfields of public administration. Furthermore, most experiments in public administration tend to have relatively simple designs, high experimental realism and a focus on external validity. Experimental public administration can be strengthened by increasing diversification in terms of samples, experimental designs, experimental types and substantive scope. Finally, the authors recommend to better utilize experiments to generate usable knowledge for practitioners and to replicate experiments to improve scientific rigour.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to experimental public administration by drawing on a systematic selection of papers and assessing them in depth. By means of a transparent and systematic selection of publications, various venues or ways forward are presented.

Details

International Journal of Public Sector Management, vol. 29 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3558

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2006

Jiju Antony, Daniel Perry, Chengbo Wang and Maneesh Kumar

This paper aims to illustrate an application of Taguchi method of experimental design (TMED) for the development of a new ignition coil for an automotive vehicle.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to illustrate an application of Taguchi method of experimental design (TMED) for the development of a new ignition coil for an automotive vehicle.

Design/methodology/approach

The application of TMED for optimisation of manufacturing processes has been widely published in the existing literature. However, the applications of TMED in the design and development of new products are not yet widely reported. This case study presents the results of a designed experiment which utilises a 16‐trial experiment to study 14 design parameters and one interaction. The case study strictly follows a systematic and disciplined methodology outlined in the paper.

Findings

The optimal settings of the critical design parameters are determined. The optimal settings have resulted in increased customer satisfaction, improved market share and low defect rate in the hands of customers.

Research limitations/implications

Although the optimal levels are determined from one large experiment, it was unable to determine the true optimal values of each design parameter.

Practical implications

Manufacturers may use TMED to optimise processes (either design or manufacturing) without expensive and time‐consuming experimentation. This case study demonstrates the true power of a well planned and designed experiment over the traditional varying one‐factor‐at‐a‐time approach to experimentation which is rather unreliable, not cost‐effective and may lead to false optimal conditions.

Originality/value

The paper provides an excellent resource for those people who are involved in the design optimisation of a new product.

Details

Assembly Automation, vol. 26 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-5154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 1998

Marit Risberg Ellekjær and Søren Bisgaard

Experimental design methods are tools for conducting informative, time‐ and cost‐effective experiments. Used during product development, these methods can contribute to building…

2469

Abstract

Experimental design methods are tools for conducting informative, time‐ and cost‐effective experiments. Used during product development, these methods can contribute to building quality into products as well as shortening the development cycle time. These techniques make it possible to study the effect of many factors (parameters) simultaneously, to select the factor combination that results in both improved quality and reduced cost, and hence allow for the development of reliable and robust products of high quality. In addition, these methods provide a systematic approach for problem solving during the product development process. This article provides a non‐technical discussion of the role of experimentation and the advantage of using experimental design during product development. Different experimental design methods and examples of their application during product development will also be presented.

Details

International Journal of Quality Science, vol. 3 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1359-8538

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 27 August 2020

Dieter Koemle and Xiaohua Yu

This paper reviews the current literature on theoretical and methodological issues in discrete choice experiments, which have been widely used in non-market value analysis, such…

8998

Abstract

Purpose

This paper reviews the current literature on theoretical and methodological issues in discrete choice experiments, which have been widely used in non-market value analysis, such as elicitation of residents' attitudes toward recreation or biodiversity conservation of forests.

Design/methodology/approach

We review the literature, and attribute the possible biases in choice experiments to theoretical and empirical aspects. Particularly, we introduce regret minimization as an alternative to random utility theory and sheds light on incentive compatibility, status quo, attributes non-attendance, cognitive load, experimental design, survey methods, estimation strategies and other issues.

Findings

The practitioners should pay attention to many issues when carrying out choice experiments in order to avoid possible biases. Many alternatives in theoretical foundations, experimental designs, estimation strategies and even explanations should be taken into account in practice in order to obtain robust results.

Originality/value

The paper summarizes the recent developments in methodological and empirical issues of choice experiments and points out the pitfalls and future directions both theoretically and empirically.

Details

Forestry Economics Review, vol. 2 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-3030

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 January 2022

Charnnarong Saikaew

The purpose of this study is to develop a practical method for training students how to conduct statistical analysis and do a course project in design of experiments (DOEs) course…

200

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop a practical method for training students how to conduct statistical analysis and do a course project in design of experiments (DOEs) course through the Web-based virtual catapult simulation.

Design/methodology/approach

A step-by-step sequential DOE process for investigating the effects of controllable factors on quality characteristic responses was presented as a guideline for conducting a DOE course project. Each team was assigned to create an innovative teaching material and work on the term report by following the recommended guidelines for designing experiments through the Web-based virtual catapult simulation. Hypothesis was defined to test whether doing a course project based on this approach would impact students’ learning outcome.

Findings

The Web-based virtual material was an alternative technique for interactive teaching that could improve students’ understanding and achievement in DOE course projects. There was a significant difference in student learning and understanding before and after doing on the course project through the Web-based virtual catapult simulation. The students had improved communication and teamwork skills after following the recommended procedure for practicing DOEs.

Practical implications

Most students could effectively conduct designing experiments, carry out designed experiments, analyze data and gain valuable teamwork experience. After learning the DOE approach based on the catapult simulation, they enjoyed working on their course projects deploying to the innovative toys and other real-life situations with real measurements.

Originality/value

The use of Web-based virtual material, including catapult simulation, was an alternative technique for interactive DOE teaching to improve the students’ understanding and achievement in DOE course projects.

Details

International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, vol. 13 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-4166

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 April 2020

Ciarán McFadden

This paper discusses the factors to consider when designing studies to measure hiring discrimination against transgender job applicants.

2089

Abstract

Purpose

This paper discusses the factors to consider when designing studies to measure hiring discrimination against transgender job applicants.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper builds on academic literature related to hiring discrimination and transgender employment to build a detailed discussion of the numerous factors and issues inherent in hiring discrimination against transgender job applicants. By isolating and describing a number of relevant considerations, the paper aims to act as a guide for future studies to build upon.

Findings

Three types of hiring discrimination studies are discussed: correspondence tests, in-person experiments and student cohort experiments. Three main categories of factors relevant to an experiment’s design are then discussed: the legal context, industry/role factors and transgender population-specific factors. A flow-chart detailing the research design decision-making process is provided.

Research limitations/implications

The discussion within this paper will act as a reference and a guide for researchers seeking to address the dearth of empirical studies in the literature. The list is not exhaustive; while a number of factors relevant to transgender-specific studies are identified, there may be more that could affect an experiment's design.

Originality/value

Hiring discrimination against transgender people has been recorded in many surveys, but there is little empirical measurement of this discrimination. To the author's knowledge, this paper is the first to examine the experimental design decisions related to transgender hiring discrimination. In doing so, it provides contributions for two primary audiences: those researching transgender employment issues but who have never conducted a study measuring hiring discrimination; and those who have previously conducted studies on hiring discrimination, but have not done so with reference to transgender job applicants.

Details

International Journal of Manpower, vol. 41 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-7720

Keywords

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