Post-Fisherian Experimentation: From Physical to Virtual

Abstract

Fisher’s pioneering work in design of experiments has inspired further work with broader applications, especially in industrial experimentation. This article discusses three topics in physical experiments: principles of effect hierarchy, sparsity, and heredity for factorial designs, a new method called conditional main effect (CME) for de-aliasing aliased effects, and robust parameter design. I also review the recent emergence of virtual experiments on a computer. Some major challenges in computer experiments, which must go beyond Fisherian principles, are outlined.