A Brief Introduction to Design of Experiments

esign of experiments is a series of tests in which purposeful changes are made to the input variables of a system or process and the effects on response variables are measured. Design of experiments is applicable to both physical processes and computer simulation models. Experimental design is an effective tool for maximizing the amount of information gained from a study while minimizing the amount of data to be collected. Factorial experimental designs investigate the effects of many different factors by varying them simultaneously instead of changing only one factor at a time. Factorial designs allow estimation of the sensitivity to each factor and also to the combined effect of two or more factors. Experimental design methods have been successfully applied to several Ballistic Missile Defense sensitivity studies to maximize the amount of information with a minimum number of computer simulation runs. In a highly competitive world of testing and evaluation, an efficient method for testing many factors is needed.