Observational unit 2026-10-07
An observational unit is the object or occasion supplying a recorded response. Several observational units can belong to one experimental unit; counting them as independent treatment replicates creates pseudoreplication.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 35 2 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The experimental unit is a volunteer on a particular afternoon, since that volunteer-session receives a program assignment. There are 36 such experimental units; a volunteer is a repeated block, rather than a unit that receives only one program throughout the experiment.
The observational unit is the individual completed sketch, equivalently the session's single recorded count of correctly represented features. The separate map features contribute to that response variable; they are not independently randomized replicates. Nor are repeated sessions on one volunteer independent subjects.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 35 3 b Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
First agree the scientific question and primary response variable. Ask the vet about the disease's course, the proposed mechanism and duration of each treatment, the eligible population, baseline severity, and what outcome and follow-up time would represent worthwhile improvement. Is the disease transmissible, is recovery reversible, and can treating one cow affect another's outcome? These answers determine whether a crossover design is credible, whether the experimental unit should be a cow or a whole herd, and whether individual randomization would leave interference between groups. Agree welfare and rescue arrangements with the vet when deciding which comparisons are feasible; the statistical plan cannot determine these from an unfamiliar disease name.
Second agree feasible allocation and adequate independent replication. Discuss numbers of available cows and herds, variation in the chosen outcome, a scientifically meaningful treatment difference, and the desired statistical power. Use these to plan sample size, rather than choosing a number solely from convenience. Discuss herd, lactation stage and initial severity as potential blocks in experimental design, then specify randomization, comparable management, concealed allocation and blinded outcome assessment where feasible. Repeated milk or health records from the same cow are observational units, not extra independent experimental units; pseudoreplication would give misleading standard errors. Availability of enough independent cows or herds, together with expected variation, governs the precision actually achievable.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 35 4 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
Both factors are assigned at orchard level. Therefore the experimental units are the twelve orchards; the trees are observational units within them. The six combinations form a balanced factorial design, replicated twice. The orchard ANOVA stratum has statistical degrees of freedom. Spray uses , pruning uses , and their interaction term uses , leaving six for error.
Dividing each treatment sum of squares in ANOVA by its statistical degrees of freedom and using as the denominator gives all missing entries:
The unrounded F-test statistics are , and . The within-orchard tree mean square in ANOVA, 180, is not the treatment error denominator: using it would confuse subsampling with independent replication. The tree ANOVA stratum has statistical degrees of freedom; is the uncorrected total, and the corrected total is 359.