A web solution for Partially Balanced Incomplete Block experimental designs

Abstract

Heterogeneity in the experimental material is an important problem to deal with the designing of scientific experiments. Block designs are useful in controlling heterogeneity arising due to one source. A Randomized Complete Block (RCB) design is the simplest and commonly used block design. When the number of treatments in an experiment increases, incomplete block designs with smaller block sizes can be adopted. Balanced Incomplete Block (BIB) and Partially Balanced Incomplete Block (PBIB) designs are two important types of such designs. PBIB designs are extremely wide spread in literature. For ready referencing and potential use of these designs, online software for generation and analysis of these designs is highly desirable. This paper describes the development of a complete web solution for generation and analysis of PBIB designs using client–server architecture. An e-learning material on these designs is also prepared that can be used as reference material by researchers and students working in this area. WS-PBIBD is accessible any time from arbitrary platforms through internet. This software would help researchers in planning, designing and analyzing their experiments through web.