The Randomized Block Design

Suppose a researcher is interested in how

several treatments affect a continuous
response variable (Y).
The treatments may be the levels of a single
factor or they may be the combinations of
levels of several factors.
Suppose we have available to us a total of
N = nt experimental units to which we are
going to apply the different treatments.
The Completely Randomized (CR) design
randomly divides the experimental units into t
groups of size n and randomly assigns a
treatment to each group.
The Randomized Block Design
divides the group of experimental units into
n homogeneous groups of size t.
These homogeneous groups are called
blocks.
The treatments are then randomly assigned
to the experimental units in each block -
one treatment to a unit in each block.
 Example 1:
Suppose we are interested in how weight gain (Y)
in rats is affected by Source of protein (Beef,
Cereal, and Pork) and by Level of Protein (High
or Low).
There are a total of t = 32 = 6 treatment
combinations of the two factors (Beef -High
Protein, Cereal-High Protein, Pork-High Protein,
Beef -Low Protein, Cereal-Low Protein, and
Pork-Low Protein) .
 Suppose we have available to us a total of N = 60
experimental rats to which we are going to apply the
different diets based on the t = 6 treatment
combinations.
Prior to the experimentation the rats were divided
into n = 10 homogeneous groups of size 6.
The grouping was based on factors that had
previously been ignored (Example - Initial weight
size, appetite size etc.)
Within each of the 10 blocks a rat is randomly
assigned a treatment combination (diet).
 The weight gain after a fixed period is
measured for each of the test animals and is
tabulated on the next slide:
 Randomized Block Design
Block Block
1 107 96 112 83 87 90 6 128 89 104 85 84 89
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

2 102 72 100 82 70 94 7 56 70 72 64 62 63
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

3 102 76 102 85 95 86 8 97 91 92 80 72 82
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

4 93 70 93 63 71 63 9 80 63 87 82 81 63
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

5 111 79 101 72 75 81 10 103 102 112 83 93 81

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)
 Example 2:
The following experiment is interested in
comparing the effect four different
chemicals (A, B, C and D) in producing
water resistance (y) in textiles.
A strip of material, randomly selected from
each bolt, is cut into four pieces (samples)
the pieces are randomly assigned to receive
one of the four chemical treatments.
 This process is replicated three times
producing a Randomized Block (RB) design.
Moisture resistance (y) were measured for
each of the samples. (Low readings indicate
low moisture penetration).
The data is given in the diagram and table on
the next slide.
Diagram: Blocks (Bolt Samples)

9.9 C 13.4 D 12.7 B

10.1 A 12.9 B 12.9 D
11.4 B 12.2 A 11.4 C
12.1 D 12.3 C 11.9 A
 Table
Blocks (Bolt Samples)
Chemical 1 2 3
A 10.1 12.2 11.9
B 11.4 12.9 12.7
C 9.9 12.3 11.4
D 12.1 13.4 12.9
The Model for a randomized Block Experiment
yij i j ij
i = 1,2,, t j = 1,2,, b
yij = the observation in the jth block receiving the
yij i j ij

ith treatment
= overall mean
i = the effect of the ith treatment
j = the effect of the jth Block
ij = random error
The Anova Table for a randomized Block Experiment

Source S.S. d.f. M.S. F p-value

Treat SST t-1 MST MST /MSE
Block SSB n-1 MSB MSB /MSE
Error SSE (t-1)(b-1) MSE
 A randomized block experiment is assumed to be
a two-factor experiment.
The factors are blocks and treatments.
The is one observation per cell. It is assumed that
there is no interaction between blocks and
treatments.
The degrees of freedom for the interaction is used
to estimate error.
 The Anova Table for Diet Experiment

Source S.S d.f. M.S. F p-value

Block 5992.4167 9 665.82407 9.52 0.00000
Diet 4572.8833 5 914.57667 13.076659 0.00000
ERROR 3147.2833 45 69.93963
 The Anova Table forTextile Experiment

SOURCE SUM OF SQUARES D.F. MEAN SQUARE F TAIL PROB.

Blocks 7.17167 2 3.5858 40.21 0.0003
Chem 5.20000 3 1.7333 19.44 0.0017
ERROR 0.53500 6 0.0892
 If the treatments are defined in terms
of two or more factors, the treatment
Sum of Squares can be split
(partitioned) into:
Main Effects
Interactions
 The Anova Table for Diet Experiment
terms for the main effects and interactions between
Level of Protein and Source of Protein
Source S.S d.f. M.S. F p-value
Block 5992.4167 9 665.82407 9.52 0.00000
Diet 4572.8833 5 914.57667 13.076659 0.00000
ERROR 3147.2833 45 69.93963

Source S.S d.f. M.S. F p-value

Block 5992.4167 9 665.82407 9.52 0.00000
Source 882.23333 2 441.11667 6.31 0.00380
Level 2680.0167 1 2680.0167 38.32 0.00000
SL 1010.6333 2 505.31667 7.23 0.00190
ERROR 3147.2833 45 69.93963
Repeated Measures Designs
In a Repeated Measures Design
We have experimental units that
may be grouped according to one or several
factors (the grouping factors)
Then on each experimental unit we have
not a single measurement but a group of
measurements (the repeated measures)
The repeated measures may be taken at
combinations of levels of one or several
factors (The repeated measures factors)
 Example
In the following study the experimenter was
interested in how the level of a certain enzyme
changed in cardiac patients after open heart
surgery.
The enzyme was measured
immediately after surgery (Day 0),
one day (Day 1),
two days (Day 2) and
one week (Day 7) after surgery
for n = 15 cardiac surgical patients.
The data is given in the table below.

Table: The enzyme levels -immediately after surgery (Day

0), one day (Day 1),two days (Day 2) and one week (Day 7)
after surgery

Subject Day 0 Day 1 Day 2 Day 7 Subject Day 0 Day 1 Day 2 Day 7
1 108 63 45 42 9 106 65 49 49
2 112 75 56 52 10 110 70 46 47
3 114 75 51 46 11 120 85 60 62
4 129 87 69 69 12 118 78 51 56
5 115 71 52 54 13 110 65 46 47
6 122 80 68 68 14 132 92 73 63
7 105 71 52 54 15 127 90 73 68
8 117 77 54 61
 The subjects are not grouped (single group).
There is one repeated measures factor -Time
with levels
Day 0,
Day 1,
Day 2,
Day 7
This design is the same as a randomized
block design with
Blocks = subjects
 The Anova Table for Enzyme Experiment

Source SS df MS F p-value
Subject 4221.100 14 301.507 32.45 0.0000
Day 36282.267 3 12094.089 1301.66 0.0000
ERROR 390.233 42 9.291

The Subject Source of variability is modelling the

variability between subjects

The ERROR Source of variability is modelling the

variability within subjects
 Example :
(Repeated Measures Design - Grouping Factor)

In the following study, similar to example 3,

the experimenter was interested in how the
level of a certain enzyme changed in cardiac
patients after open heart surgery.
In addition the experimenter was interested in
how two drug treatments (A and B) would
also effect the level of the enzyme.
 The 24 patients were randomly divided into three
groups of n= 8 patients.
The first group of patients were left untreated as a
control group while
the second and third group were given drug
treatments A and B respectively.
Again the enzyme was measured immediately after
surgery (Day 0), one day (Day 1), two days (Day 2)
and one week (Day 7) after surgery for each of the
cardiac surgical patients in the study.
Table: The enzyme levels - immediately after surgery (Day 0),
one day (Day 1),two days (Day 2) and one week (Day 7)
after surgery for three treatment groups (control, Drug A,
Drug B)

Group
Control Drug A Drug B
Day Day Day
0 1 2 7 0 1 2 7 0 1 2 7
122 87 68 58 93 56 36 37 86 46 30 31
112 75 55 48 78 51 33 34 100 67 50 50
129 80 66 64 109 73 58 49 122 97 80 72
115 71 54 52 104 75 57 60 101 58 45 43
126 89 70 71 108 71 57 65 112 78 67 66
118 81 62 60 116 76 58 58 106 74 54 54
115 73 56 49 108 64 54 47 90 59 43 38
112 67 53 44 110 80 63 62 110 76 64 58
 The subjects are grouped by treatment
control,
Drug A,
Drug B
There is one repeated measures factor -Time
with levels
Day 0,
Day 1,
Day 2,
Day 7
 The Anova Table
Source SS df MS F p-value
Drug 1745.396 2 872.698 1.78 0.1929
Error1 10287.844 21 489.897
Time 47067.031 3 15689.010 1479.58 0.0000
Time x Drug 357.688 6 59.615 5.62 0.0001
Error2 668.031 63 10.604

There are two sources of Error in a repeated

measures design:
The between subject error Error1 and
the within subject error Error2
Tables of means

Drug Day 0 Day 1 Day 2 Day 7 Overall

Control 118.63 77.88 60.50 55.75 78.19
A 103.25 68.25 52.00 51.50 68.75
B 103.38 69.38 54.13 51.50 69.59
Overall 108.42 71.83 55.54 52.92 72.18
 120

Time Profiles of Enzyme Levels

100
Control
Drug A
Enzyme Level

Drug B

80

60

40
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Day