Design and coding
Sample management
These features, common to all FIZZ versions, allow the complete management of the samples evaluated in the sessions and the forms:
- identification of the products and the samples
- automatic generation of the presentation designs (evaluation orders)
- automatic sample code generation
- label printing
- customized presentation designs
Products and samples
The database in FIZZ has been defined to store also the information concerning the evaluated samples. During the session preparation, you may enter for example:
All the information entered allows later to use queries in order to find out for example in which sessions you have evaluated samples belonging to a given product or a category of products, the samples from a given production site, the corresponding answers...
- The product to which the sample is related.
- The production date, time, and location.
- The storage conditions.
- The preparation method or the variation in the production process.
- ...
All the information entered allows later to use queries in order to find out for example in which sessions you have evaluated samples belonging to a given product or a category of products, the samples from a given production site, the corresponding answers...
Generation of experimental designs
FIZZ includes a very powerful tool for the generation of sample presentation designs (evaluation orders). Depending on the type of test used in the session or the questionnaire, the system proposes the most suitable designs and generates automatically the design chosen, and the sample blinding codes.
A unique characteristic of FIZZ is that a new design is obtained at each design generation. The algorithms used generate a different design every time, corresponding to your choices.
For the profile type tests, FIZZ builds Williams Latin Squares (which balance the position and carry-over effects), designs with products split over several sessions, Balanced Incomplete Blocks, and combinations of these designs when you plan repetitions of the evaluation.
A unique characteristic of FIZZ is that a new design is obtained at each design generation. The algorithms used generate a different design every time, corresponding to your choices.
For the profile type tests, FIZZ builds Williams Latin Squares (which balance the position and carry-over effects), designs with products split over several sessions, Balanced Incomplete Blocks, and combinations of these designs when you plan repetitions of the evaluation.
Example of a Williams Latin Square, including the sample codes and identification, shown in the evaluation order:
Sample coding
FIZZ generates automatically the blinding codes for your samples in relation with the presentation designs:
The code generation algorithm in FIZZ limits the similarities between the codes for a given panelist.
The codes may be printed out as a table (preparation list).
- Numerical or alphabetical codes.
- Codes all different, or same code set for all panelists. In the latter case, you may also enter yourself the codes to be used.
The code generation algorithm in FIZZ limits the similarities between the codes for a given panelist.
The codes may be printed out as a table (preparation list).
Printing labels
FIZZ also prints out the labels for the samples.
The user defines the label printing order and their content, to simplify as much as possible the sample preparation work. The labels may be printed for example product by product, and may include the tray number and the evaluation order.
Examples of label sheets:
- left: product numbers and associated codes
- right: product numbers and associated codes with the evaluation order and tray number above
Custom designs
Customized presentation designs may be built also. In addition to the possibilities of manual input and copy/paste from other applications, FIZZ makes it easy to incorporate Williams Latin Squares, Balanced Incomplete Blocks... to your specific designs.
Example of a design with the same sample always in the first position, and a Williams Latin Square for the others, shown in the presentation order.