The specific choice of design should be tied to the test objectives and the anticipated analysis. For example, designs meant for factor screening have fundamentally different properties than designs meant to characterize or optimize. This lesson discusses three common test objectives in detail and describes how experimental designs can be applied to ensure these objectives are met. Sequential test design strategies, where the results of early tests inform the construction of future tests, are highly recommended and can provide additional resource savings.

References

1. Freeman, L. J., Johnson, T., Avery, M., Lillard, V. B., & Clutter, J. (2018). Testing Defense Systems. Analytic Methods in Systems and Software Testing, 441.
2. Montgomery, D. C. (2017). Design and analysis of experiments (Ninth ed.): Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
3. Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (2010). Guidance on the use of Design of Experiments (DOE) in Operational Test and Evaluation.
4. Director, Operational Test & Evaluation (2013). Best Practices for Assessing the Statistical Adequacy of Experimental Designs Used in Operational Test and Evaluation.
5. Office of the Director, Operational Test & Evaluation, Action Officer Training (2016). Experimental Designs. https://www.dote.osd.mil/Publications/Training/