Finite Population and Other Models

Abstract

As discussed earlier, so far in this volume we have been primarily concerned with random effects models or Model II based on the infinite population theory, that is, when the treatments included in the experiment are assumed to be a random sample from a population of treatments having infinite size or when the experimenter selects the levels at random from a large number of possible levels of a factor usually considered as infinite. However, as described in Section 1.4, there are situations when the treatments selected may be a sample from a finite population and then the assumptions of an infinite population may be inappropriate. For example, in a large laboratory, there could be a total of 10 analysts and the data obtained on just three of them could be used to make inferences concerning a new method for the determination of arginine content as used by the entire group of 10 analysts.