Design and analysis of a microplate assay in the presence of multiple restrictions on the randomization

Abstract: Experiments using multi-step protocols often involve several restrictions on the randomization. For a specific application to in vitro testing on microplates, a design was required with both a split-plot and a strip-plot structure. On top of two-level treatment factors and the factors that define the randomization restrictions, a multi-level fixed blocking factor not involving further restrictions on the randomization had to be added. We develop a step-by-step approach to construct a design for the microplate experiment and analyze a response. To consolidate the approach, we study various alternative scenarios for the experiment.