Question

Forecasting electrical consumption. Two different methods of forecasting monthly electrical consumption were compared and the results published in Applied Mathematics and Computation (Vol. 186, 2007). The two methods were Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and Time Series Regression (TSR). Forecasts were made using each method for each of 4 months. These forecasts were also compared with the actual monthly consumption values. A layout of the design is shown in the next table. The researchers want to compare the mean electrical consumption values of the ANN forecast, TSR forecast, and Actual consumption

a. Identify the experimental design employed in the study.

Short answer

a. We considered a randomized block design in the study.

Step-by-step solution

Given Information

Two different methods of forecasting are artificial neural networks and time series regression.

Forecasts were made for each of 4months.

Randomized Block design

The randomized block design is very useful. The basic idea here is to compare treatment levels within a block of relatively homogeneous experimental material then repeat the comparison on another block and so on.

Step 3:

Here, we considered a randomized block design in the study.