advice sought for double paired design
Dear mixed modellers, just want some opinions from those willing to share them - I have a design and wonder if mixed models could analyse it. *I have 34 sites that are split into pairs of sites that do or do not receive a treatment. This means I have n=17 as the pairs are obviously not independent of each other. *I surveyed information from them also _before_ and _after_ treatment was applied so each pair/site is also paired over time due to the repeat measurement. *With each survey 2 repeat measurements were taken simultaneously over 2 habitats. I was wondering if this is a reasonable design to tackle with mixed models? I have researching matched pairs designs but they fail as there is the double pairing non-independence issue. I am interested in whether or not treatment affects y, and not how site A at time 1 is different to site A at time 2 - there is a seasonal issue so I know it will be different. Treatment is my key question, and if the 2 habitats are affected differently. My limited knowledge of mixed models tells me it is doable but I want to check with people that really know what they're talking about! If in theory mixed models are suitable, would a design like this be appropriate or will it need to be a little more complex that this super simple model? lmer(y~Treatment+Habitat+(1|Site)+(1|Treatment)+(1|Period)+(1|Time), data) Any hints you could give me would be gratefully received. Kate ----------------------------------- Ph.D student and mixed model beginner