The Six Sigma Handbook, Revised and Expanded, 2nd Edition

17.1. TERMINOLOGY

Much of the early work on the design of experiments involved agricultural studies. The language of experimental design still reflects these origins. The experimental area was literally a piece of ground. A block was a smaller piece of ground with fairly uniform properties. A plot was smaller still and it served as the basic unit of the design. As the plot was planted, fertilized and harvested, it could be split simply by drawing a line. A treatment was actually a treatment, such as the application of fertilizer. Unfortunately for the Six Sigma analyst, these terms are still part of the language of experiments. The analyst must do his or her best to understand quality improvement experimenting using these terms. Natrella (1963) ...