R Statistics Cookbook

Crossed and nested designs

Whenever we collect data of a model with the intention of testing something, we are implicitly working with an experimental design. Experimental design refers to the setup that defines which experimental units are used, and how they are allocated to each treatment. For example, if we want to measure whether clients are more likely to buy a product after receiving a discount, we need to define which clients will be in the control or test group. Furthermore, we need to define how many of them will fall in each group. All these decisions will have implications regarding the effects and contrasts that we can estimate, and what the precision will be for each one. This is why experimental design has transcendental consequences ...