9. Design of experiments software

The construction of experimental designs is often straightforward, simply choosing from among the matrices already published. But it's important that the design is adapted to the study, and not the other way round. In some situations, therefore, a custom design is absolutely essential. Experimental design software (see "Find out more", under "Software tools") has libraries of classic designs, and can also be used to construct special designs.

Coefficients can be calculated using a spreadsheet program, but this requires programming and time. It is therefore preferable to use suitable software that not only calculates the coefficients, but also performs the statistical calculations needed to assess the quality of the mathematical model. Design-of-experiments software is also programmed to calculate responses in all areas of study, to carry out analyses of variance,...