Nested balanced incomplete block designs of harmonised series

Abstract

Block designs are useful in comparative experimentation for improving efficiency of treatment comparisons when working with heterogeneous experimental units. A nested balanced incomplete block design (NBIBD) is a design with two systems of blocks, the second nested within the first, such that ignoring either system leaves a balanced incomplete block design whose blocks are those of the other system. In this study, a new method of construction of nested balanced incomplete block designs for a number of parameter combinations is developed. The resulting design schemes were of the type that harmonizes both the Series-I and Series-II of Rajender et al. (2007) in which a single design scheme that can be used in the construction of both the Series-I and Series-II at the same time was produced.