Experiment! Planning, Implementing and Interpreting
by Andersson, OivindEdition: 1st
Format: Hardcover
Pub. Date: 2012-08-13
Publisher(s): Wiley
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Summary
This book is unique since no methodologies for experimenters exist that put practical tools into a scientific context. There are plenty of books discussing fundamentals of scientific thought on a strictly philosophical level. There are also books that cover statistical tools without discussing how measurement data are turned into scientific results. Surveying the market, you find no books that merge these aspects of science into a practical workable methodology for experimenters. The book will be organized in two parts: the first one a general introduction to the scientific approach and the second describing tools and methodology. Part one introduces concepts and ideas that will be used later. A historical chapter describes the birth of scientific thought with the focus on the experimental method. This is followed by a discussion about what science is, and is not. It finishes with a discussion about differences between science and engineering. Part two features a number of selected historical experiments to explore what is characteristic of good experiments. This is followed by statistical methods that are used in the subsequent methodology, including design of experiments (DoE). Even for those who will not use DoE regularly, it is useful to be familiar with the method as it helps understand the importance of separating effects of different factors in an experiment. The remaining chapters present the methodology which leads the reader through an experimental investigation in four phases: planning, data collection, analysis, and synthesis. At the very end, a short introduction to project management is given, which will be useful for students responsible for their own projects. A detailed description of the contents is given below. Every chapter contains examples and exercises making it equally suited as course literature or for self-studies.
Author Biography
Dr Öivind Andersson is Assistant Professor in the Department of Energy Sciences at Lund Universitytransparent engines and works with optical measurements in transparent engines. His responsibilities include supervision of several Ph.D. students thus providing opportunities to reflect on how to develop their abilities as experimenters and he has developed and taught a faculty-common Ph.D. course on experimental methodology that partly forms the basis for the proposed book.
Before joining Lund University he worked for seven years for the Volvo Car Corporation, both with optical and traditional engine experiments and his duties varied from product development to research tasks. He monitored several of the company's research projects at universities, and was often engaged in discussions about how the outcome of the efforts invested in their experiments could be improved.
In 2006 he received the Henry Ford European Technical Achievement Award, for development of a "Low Temperature Concept for Low Emission Diesel Engines", with L. Jacobsson, J. Somhorst, and A. Lööf. He has authored and co-authored 20 scientific publications.
Table of Contents
Preface xi
Part One Understanding the World
1 You, the Discoverer 3
1.1 Venturing into the Unknown 4
1.2 Embarking on a Ph.D 5
1.3 The Art of Discovery 5
1.4 About this Book 7
1.5 How to Use this Book 8
Further Reading 10
References 10
2 What is Science? 11
2.1 Characteristics of the Scientific Approach 11
2.2 The Inductive Method 14
2.3 The Hypothetico-Deductive Method 16
2.4 Consequences of Falsification 19
2.5 The Role of Confirmation 21
2.6 Perception is Personal 23
2.7 The Scientific Community 29
2.8 Summary 30
Further Reading 31
References 31
3 Science’s Childhood 33
3.1 Infancy 33
3.2 Ionian Dawn 34
3.3 Divine Mathematics 38
3.4 Adolescence – Revolution! 41
3.5 The Children of the Revolution 47
3.6 Summary 50
Further Reading 50
References 51
4 Science Inclined to Experiment 53
4.1 Galileo’s Important Experiment 54
4.2 Experiment or Hoax? 56
4.3 Reconstructing the Experiment 58
4.4 Getting the Swing of Things 60
4.5 The Message from the Plane 62
4.6 Summary 63
References 64
5 Scientists, Engineers and Other Poets 65
5.1 Research and Development 65
5.2 Characteristics of Research 68
5.3 Building Theories 70
5.4 The Relationship between Theory and Reality 75
5.5 Creativity 77
5.6 Summary 79
Further Reading 80
References 80
Part Two Interfering with the World
6 Experiment! 83
6.1 What is an Experiment? 83
6.2 Questions, Answers and Experiments 85
6.3 A Gallery of Experiments 88
6.4 Reflections on the Exhibition 108
6.5 Summary 110
Further Reading 110
References 112
7 Basic Statistics 113
7.1 The Role of Statistics in Data Analysis 113
7.2 Populations and Samples 115
7.3 Descriptive Statistics 116
7.4 Probability Distribution 122
7.5 The Central Limit Effect 126
7.6 Normal Probability Plots 129
7.7 Confidence Intervals 132
7.8 The t-Distribution 134
7.9 Summary 136
Further Reading 137
References 138
8 Statistics for Experiments 139
8.1 A Teatime Experiment 139
8.2 The Importance of Randomization 141
8.3 One-Sided and Two-Sided Tests 142
8.4 The t-Test for One Sample 143
8.5 The Power of a Test 148
8.6 Comparing Two Samples 150
8.7 Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) 155
8.8 A Measurement System Analysis 159
8.9 Other Useful Hypothesis Tests 163
8.10 Interpreting p-Values 164
8.11 Correlation 165
8.12 Regression Modeling 167
8.13 Summary 171
Further Reading 172
References 173
9 Experimental Design 175
9.1 Statistics and the Scientific Method 175
9.2 Designs with One Categorical Factor 176
9.3 Several Categorical Factors: the Full Factorial Design 178
9.4 Are Interactions Important? 186
9.5 Factor Screening: Fractional Factorial Designs 187
9.6 Determining the Confounding Pattern 188
9.7 Design Resolution 190
9.8 Working with Screening Designs 191
9.9 Continuous Factors: Regression and Response Surface Methods 195
9.10 Summary 207
Further Reading 208
References 209
10 Phase I: Planning 211
10.1 The Three Phases of Research 211
10.2 Experiment 1: Visual Orientation in a Beetle 213
10.3 Experiment 2: Lift-Off Length in a Diesel Engine 216
10.4 Finding Out What is Not Known 218
10.5 Determining the Scope 221
10.6 Tools for Generating Hypotheses 222
10.7 Thought Experiments 227
10.8 Planning Checklist 229
10.9 Summary 231
References 233
11 Phase II: Data Collection 235
11.1 Generating Understanding from Data 235
11.2 Measurement Uncertainty 236
11.3 Developing a Measurement System 238
11.4 Measurement System Analysis 244
11.5 The Data Collection Plan 248
11.6 Summary 251
Further Reading 252
References 252
12 Phase III: Analysis and Synthesis 253
12.1 Turning Data into Information 253
12.2 Graphical Analysis 256
12.3 Mathematical Analysis 259
12.4 Writing a Scientific Paper 260
12.5 Writing a Ph.D. Thesis 264
12.6 Farewell 266
12.7 Summary 266
Further Reading 266
References 267
Appendix 269
Standard Normal Probabilities 269
Probability Points for the t-Distribution 270
Index 271
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