Some Experiences with a Nonlinear Experimental Design Criterion

The optimal experimental designs for estimating the parameters in certain nonlinear models in various situations are given, and it is noted that these designs usually consist of suitable replicates of a small set of experiments, the number of which is equal to the number of unknown parameters. In view of the computational difficulty in obtaining the optimal experimental designs, it is suggested that the experience gained with these examples be regarded as typical, and on this basis computational “short cuts” to the optimal (or at least near optimal) designs are available. Also discussed is a grave disadvantage of replicated optimal designs, namely that such experimentation is of little use in highlighting inadequacies of the assumed model, if any exist.