Fractional Factorial and Related Designs–Optimality and Construction

This thesis mathematically designs various optimal experiments that ensure that the resulting data is as useful as possible. The majority of the work in this thesis is on choice experiments: these experiments help service-providers, policy-makers, etc. in taking business decisions on the characteristics of their products and service. Respondents generally answer certain questions based on their preferences. One major contribution of this thesis is to design choice experiments so that each respondent is asked as few questions as possible. This reduces respondent fatigue, leading to preciseness in response. Therefore, these designs are expected to be helpful to practitioners.