Sparsity of effects principle

The sparsity of effects principle (see Box and Meyer, 1986) makes resolution III and IV fractional factorial designs particularly effective for factor screening. This principle states that, when many factors are studied in a factorial experiment, the system tends to be dominated by the main effects of some of the factors and a relatively small number of two-factor interactions. Thus resolution IV designs with main effects clear of two-factor interactions are very effective as screening... 

The theoretical basis for neglecting to conduct a full factorial design is the sparsity-of-effect principle, which states that systems are generally... 

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