What Is Blocking Used for?

Blocking is used to remove the effects of a few of the most important nuisance variables. Randomization is then used to reduce the contaminating effects of the remaining nuisance variables.

What does blocking do in an experiment?

Experimental Design

Blocking: Blocking is the arrangement of experimental units into groups (blocks) consisting of units that are similar to one another. Blocking reduces known but irrelevant sources of variation between units and thus allows greater precision in the estimation of the source of variation under study.

Why is blocking necessary?

Blocking is essential for preventing non-specific binding of antibodies or other reagents to the tissue. ... Consequently, non-specific binding prevents visualization of the antigen-antibody binding of interest.