Question

What are the two main advantages of factorial experiments?

This question from statistics.

Answer 1

In statistics, a full factorial experiment is an experiment whose design consists of two or more factors, each with discrete possible values or "levels", and whose experimental units take on all possible combinations of these levels across all such factors. A full factorial design may also be called a fully crossed design. Such an experiment allows the investigator to study the effect of each factor on the response variable, as well as the effects of interactions between factors on the response variable.

Advantages of factorial experiments:

1. Factorial designs are more efficient than OFAT(One-factor-at-a-time) experiments. They provide more information at similar or lower cost. They can find optimal conditions faster than OFAT experiments.

2. Factorial designs allow additional factors to be examined at no additional cost.

3. When the effect of one factor is different for different levels of another factor, it cannot be detected by an OFAT experiment design. Factorial designs are required to detect such interactions. Use of OFAT when interactions are present can lead to serious misunderstanding of how the response changes with the factors.

4. Factorial designs allow the effects of a factor to be estimated at several levels of the other factors, yielding conclusions that are valid over a range of experimental conditions.