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3.6 Conclusions

Because simulation - treated as a black box - implies experimentation with a model, design of experiment is essential. In this chapter, I discussed both classic designs for low-order polynomial regression models and modern designs (including Latin hypercube sampling) for other metamodels such as Kriging models. The simpler the metamodel is, the fewer scenarios need to be simulated. (Cross validation of the metamodel selected, is discussed in Chap. III.1 by Wang.)

I did not discuss so-called optimal designs because these designs use statistical assumptions (such as white noise) that I find too unrealistic. A recent discussion of optimal designs including references is Spall (2003).

Neither did I discuss the designs in Taguchi (1987), as I think that the classic and modern designs (which I did discuss) are superior. Nevertheless, I think that Taguchi's concepts - as opposed to his statistical techniques - are important. In practice, the 'optimal' solution may break down because the environment turns out to differ from the environment that the analysts assumed when deriving the optimum. Therefore they should look for a 'robust' solution. For further discussion I refer to Kleijnen et al. (2003a).

Because of space limitations, I did not discuss sequential designs, except for sequential bifurcation and two-stage resolution IV designs. Nevertheless, the sequential nature of simulation experiments (caused by the computer architecture) makes sequential designs very attractive. This is an area of active research nowadays; see Jin et al. (2002), Kleijnen et al. (2003a), and Kleijnen and Van Beers (2003b).

I mentioned several more research issues; for example, importance sampling. Another interesting question is: how much computer time should analysts spend on replication; how much on exploring new scenarios?

Another challenge is to develop designs that explicitly account for multiple outputs. This may be a challenge indeed in sequential bifurcation (depending on the output selected to guide the search, different paths lead to the individual factors identified as being important). In practice, multiple outputs are the rule in simulation; see Kleijnen et al. (2003a).

The application of Kriging to random simulation models (such models are a focus of this handbook, including this chapter) seems a challenge. Moreover, corresponding software needs to be developed. Current software focuses on deterministic simulation; see Lophaven et al. (2002).

Comparison of various metamodel types and their designs remains a major problem. For example, Meckesheimer et al. (2001) compare radial basis, neural net, and polynomial metamodels. Clarke et al. (2003) compare low-order polynomials, radial basis functions, Kriging, splines, and support vector regression. Alam et al. (2003) found that LHS gives the best neural-net metamodels. Comparison of screening designs has hardly begun; see Kleijnen et al. (2003 a,b).


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Next: References Up: 3. Design and Analysis Previous: 3.5 Kriging