ANATOMY OF AN EXPERIMENT The Experiment The Munchy

ANATOMY OF AN EXPERIMENT: The Experiment: The Munchy Cookie Company is Terms and Their Relationships famous for its Chewy Mango cookies. In order to increase production the company wants to determine if it can reduce cooking time and increase temperature and still get the same quality cookie (traditionally baked for eight minutes at 350 degrees). The conditions under consideration involve temperatures of 350 and 450 degrees and cooking times of six and eight minutes. Chewy Mango cookies can be bent to a 300 degree outside angle before breaking. If the change in cooking conditions replicates the original conditions, the company will consider this new cooking process. CONTROL GROUP: EXPERIMENTAL UNITS: Experimental Units are the items (here cookies) or individuals (also called subjects) upon which the experiment is performed. Experimental Units are assigned to Control and Experimental Conditions at random. Random Sample of 250 dough balls to each condition One of the treatment conditions may represent a Control Group to which others are compared. Here the traditional mode of baking provides a control to which other baking approaches may be compared. Factors applied to samples 350 Degrees 8 minutes Control Group: Here, the current baking process (8 min; 350 o) Take Measurements on the Response Variable 350 Degrees 6 minutes 1000 Chewy Mango cookie dough balls Six minutes represents a Level of the Time Factor 450 Degrees 8 minutes 450 Degrees 6 minutes LEVEL: LEVELS represent the different values of a Factor that are applied to the Experimental Units, such as cooking at 350 and 450 degrees. There is always a minimum of two Levels - one which may represent the existing conditions and thereby represent a Control Level (Control Group) for a Factor and another which represents an Experimental Level. Compare Cooking Time/Temp. results and state Conclusions HELP! We’re getting a bit crispy FACTOR: (aka INDEPENDENT VARIABLE or EXPLANATORY VARIABLE) A FACTOR is a condition applied to the Experimental Units, such as cooking time or cooking temperature. RESPONSE VARIABLE: (aka DEPENDENT VARIABLE or OUTCOME VARIABLE) A RESPONSE VARIABLE is the characteristic of the experiment to be measured or observed, such as the consistency of a cookie. A Treatment representing one Level from each of two Factors. Here, 450 o, 6 min. TREATMENT: A TREATMENT is comprised of Levels from one or more Factors (Independent Variables). If there is only one Factor, such as Temperature, then the TREATMENTS are the Levels of the single Factor, Temperature. If there is more than one Factor, then the TREATMENTS represent the combination of Levels from the Factors (here a combination of Temperature and Time).