IET 421/ IET 621*001 (Spring 2016)

Homework 1
Total Points: 10
Due date: 02/04/2016
Shane Holbrook
1.

(5 points) Suppose that you want to investigate the factors that potentially affect

cooking rice.
(a)

What would you use as a response variable in this experiment?

How sticky the rice is.

How would you measure the response? By determining which method produces the
least sticky rice.
(b)

List all of the potential sources of variability that could impact the

response. Steamed vs. boiling, type of water: salted vs pure, type of rice : white,
brown, or wild, the length of grains: long vs short, cooking times, temperature,
amount of water used, cooking method: stovetop, microwave, rice cooker,
washing/rinsing vs non-rinsing.
(c)

Complete the first three steps of the guidelines for designing

experiments in Section 1.4 of the book.

1. Recognition of and statement of the problem:
When cooked, rice can sometimes become sticky instead of fluffy.
2. Selection of Response Variables:
Measured by rice that has the least amount of water content (or rice in which is less
sticky than the rest.)
3. Choices of factor level and range:
From the factors listed above the ranges and levels are:
Cooking Method: boiling vs steaming
Water Type: salted vs. unsalted water

Type of Rice: wild, brown, white (note that for an constant, we would want to use a
common grain size either short or long.)
Water Amount: This could be set at multiple levels in order to determine how these
levels interact with the stickiness of the rice
Cooking Machine: microwave vs. stovetop (I decided to leave the rice cooker out of
this, as most common rice cookers are used on stovetops nowadays.)
Prewashing: Rinsing rice vs non-rinsing rice
Temperature: picking different temperature settings to determine the relationship
with the rices stickiness
*Some other factors I determined would be quite minute such as (day/night,
humidity, and the like)
**Also cooking times would vary based on several of the above factors and could be
a response variable, as opposed to a factor in consideration of the above mentioned
response.

2.

(5 points) Suppose that you want to compare the growth of flowers with different

conditions of sunlight, water, fertilizer, and soil conditions. Complete steps 1-3 of the
guidelines for designing experiments in Section 1.4 of the book.
1.Recognition of and statement of the problem:
Optimization of flower growth
2.Selection of Response Variables:
Growth sizes will be used to determine the response variable
3.Choices of factor level and range:
Sunlight: none vs constant
Water: none vs constant drip
Fertilizer: none vs mostly
Soil condition: dry vs moist

*it is to be noted, that we would have to determine some constants here such as same pots,
same brands of fertilizer, water types, and soil from same location. This way we can factor
out any nuisances within the experiment.
**Also when I say none vs mostly etc. I am referring to the range in which we can monitor
to see the experimental differences in how these factors affect the response variable.