. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Jul 10.

Published in final edited form as: Stat Med. 2016 Jan 28;35(15):2543–2560. doi: 10.1002/sim.6882

Table 3.

Statistical Experimental Design Terminology.

Term	Definition/Explanation

k	Number of attributes (factors)
2^k	Two-level full factorial design
2^k^–^p	Two-level fractional factorial design (FFD)
Design generator(s)	Determines the fraction of the full factorial design
p	Number of design generators for a FFD
2^k^–^p FFD in 2^q blocks	Two-level blocked fractional factorial design (BFFD)
Block generator(s)	Determines the block effect(s)
q	Number of block generators
2^q	Number of choice sets (blocks)
2^k^–^p^–^q	Choice set size, i.e., number of options in each choice set (block size)
Aliasing	Two or more effects cannot be separated
Clear effects	A main effects or two-factor interaction is clear if none of its aliases are main effects or two-factor interactions, or confounded with any block effects
Resolution	Captures the amount of aliasing (Higher resolution = aliasing of higher-order effects)
Confounding	Factorial effect is indistinguishable from block effect