CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The experimental design is the design of any task that aims to describe or

explain the variation of information under conditions that are hypothesized to

reflect the variation. The term is generally associated with experiments in which

the design introduces conditions that directly affect the variation, but may also

refer to the design of quasi-experiments, in which natural conditions that

influence the variation are selected for observation.

The study of experimental design originated in England and in its early age, was

associated with agricultural experimentation. The need for experimental design

in agriculture was very clear. To obtain observation of the yields of crops, it

takes at least a year, consequently the need to save time and money led to the

study of ways to obtain more information using smaller samples. Similar

motivation led to its subsequent acceptance and wide use in all fields or

scientific experimentation. Experimental design has since been extended and are

now universally recognized as a rigorous approach appropriate for industrial

and scientific investigation. The science of experimental design is now not only

used in the agricultural sector, but also in the biological sciences, social

sciences, physical and environmental sciences. The experimental design though

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applicable in all fields, still retains its agricultural origin in it standard

nomenclature.

All experimental designs are a means of reducing experimental errors by taking

accounts of extraneous errors of randomization. Experimental situations vary

with respect to the ability if different sources of secondary variations.

Experimental design is concerned with the method of sampling to reduce the

variations in an experiment and thereby to acquire a specified quantity if

information at minimum cost.

According to Douglas Montgomery, experimental design is a test or series of

test in which purposeful changes are made to the imputed variable of a process

or system so that we nay observe and identify the reasons for the changes in the

output response. The type of control procedure employed is important in

terming how reliable and valid conclusion drawn from the experiments are. This

brings us to the various applications of the different types if design to system in

Engineering, Manufacturing industries, Research, Agriculture and other sectors.

We shall narrow our application in this project work on the application of the

complete randomized design and randomized block design on both the field plot

and poultry farms. Thus will be achieved by analyzing the various treatment

effects with the aid of observed data(yields). Therefore, it is okay to say that our

major concern in this work is the treatments effect, which will help us draw a

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conclusion that will improve process yield and better poultry performance,

which will lead to an improvement that will boast the agricultural sector.

A completely randomized design (CRD) is an experiment where the treatments

are assigned at random. Every experimental unit has the same odds of receiving

a particular treatment. It is the most common type of experimental design. for

this design to work, we must have ensured that the experimental units are

completely randomized and any method can be used to achieve this as long as

the assignment of the experimental units to the different treatments is truly

random, and we have accounted for extraneous variable

With a randomized block design, the experimenter divides subjects into

subgroups called blocks, such that the variability within blocks is less than the

variability between blocks. Then, subjects within each block are randomly

assigned to treatment conditions. Compared to a completely randomized design,

this design reduces variability within treatment conditions and potential

confounding, producing a better estimate of treatment effects. The treatments

are randomly allocated to the experimental units inside each block. When all

treatments appear at least once in each block, we have a completely randomized

block design. Otherwise, we have an incomplete randomized block design.

We can say that experimental design involves not only the selection of suitable

independent, dependent, and control variables, but planning the delivery of the

experiment under statistically optimal conditions given the constraints of

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available resources. Correctly designed experiments advance knowledge in the

natural and social sciences and engineering. Other applications include

marketing and policy making.

Experimental design involves the following, the systematic collection of data, a

focus on the design itself, rather than the results, Planning changes to

independent (input) variables and the effect on dependent variables or response

variables, and ensuring results are valid, easily interpreted, and definitive.

Experimental design well administered in any sector or processing sector

properly will lead to great expansion in the processing sectors and improve the

economic situation of the country.

1.2 Aim and Objectives

The main aim of this work is to study and analyze the various treatment on an

experimental units and show if there is an effect of the treatments in any of the

experimental units.

The objectives of this study are;

i. To use complete randomized design to test if there is effect among

various treatment of fertilizer on crop yield

ii. To check if there exist effect on the different feeds given to poultry birds

on egg production using CRD

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iii. To use randomized bock design to test if there is effect among various

treatment of fertilizer on crop yield

iv. To test the various treatment of feeds on poultry birds with respect to egg

production using the randomized block design

v. To pin point, the treatment which has the effect on the experimental unit,

provided that the treatment has an effect.

1.3 Scope of The Study

The focus of this project is on the application of the complete randomized

design and randomized block design to real life problems. The study will also

test the effects of different quantities of fertilizer on crop yield in the field plot

as well as measure the effect of different feeds on poultry birds on egg

production.

Definition of Basic Terms

Here are some important terms used in this study

Experimental units: this is a group of materials on which the experiment is

conducted. It is the entity or unit of which a specified treatment is applied.

Factor: factor in an experimental design is a series of related treatment, which

the experiment is designed to investigate.

Level of a factor: this is the formulation of various obscuration from various

factors. I.e. The values of the factors used in the experiment.

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Design: a set of experimental runs which allows the fit of a particular model

and the estimate of effect.

Effect: how changing the factors changes the responses. The effect is also

called main effect.

Single factor experiment: this is an experiment involving just one factor as the

name implies e.g. CRD, RBD and LSD

Experimental error: this is all uncontrolled source of variation influencing an

observation under a specified treatment combination.

Test of hypothesis: this help an experimenter to take decision based on the pre-

conceived theory concerning the population characteristics of interest. There are

two hypothesis involved in a statistical test. They are;

(I) Null hypothesis ( H 0 ) and

(II) Alternative hypothesis ( H 1 )

The null hypothesis usually specifies a lack of differences between two or more

samples, whereas the alternative hypothesis commonly connotes existence of

differences between two or more samples.

Statistical hypothesis: this is a statement about a statistical population which is

on the basis of information obtained from the observed data, one seeks to

support or refute.

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Degrees of freedom: Degrees of freedom of an estimate is the number of

independent pieces of information that went into calculating the estimate. Its

computation for any source of variation is the difference between the number of

independent observation on source of variance and the number of independent

parameters estimated in computing variation.

F- ratio: this is the statistic calculated by analysis of variance which reveals the

significance of the hypothesis that Y depends on X. To tells us precisely how

much of the variation in Y is explained by X, (MS(X)) than is due to random,

unexplained variation (MSE).

Level of significance: it is the probability level that is to be considered too low

to warrant support of the hypothesis being tested.