# Should the (block-design) tag be removed?

I noticed for the first time today that there is a (block-design) tag, with no description and 12 questions. It seems that this tag is completely redundant, as there is already a (combinatorial-designs) tag (which does have a description, 154 questions, and is the exact same thing). Should this tag be removed/merged?

(This is my first post on meta so I don't know if I'm phrasing this question correctly. Any feedback is appreciated.)

## 1 Answer

I introduced that tag.

Reviewing the description for "combinatorial designs" in detail, I agree that "block design" is a specialization of the same topic and could be merged in without loss.

In other words, yes, let's remove and replace it with .

• I don't think removing is a bad idea, although we might also consider making block-design a synonym of combinatorial-design -- as you said, the term "block design" is common, and it's not unrealistic to expect it to be a tag. Here is the page to do so, but I'm not sure if it should be done -- quid has stated there can be downsides to synonyms, but I'm not sure I see one here. – pjs36 Mar 31 '18 at 1:04
• I absolutely think that merging as a synonym is a good idea. Both are very common terms, and have an identical meaning. I also agree that the downsides pointed out by quid do not seem to apply in this situation (I think it's unlikely either of these two tags would be used unintentionally by people mistaking their meaning). – Morgan Rodgers Mar 31 '18 at 1:12
• It sounds like we will make a synonym then. However, the convention seems to be using plural forms of nouns in tag names, in which case I guess we would remove all block-design tags, and create the synonym block-designs $\to$ combinatorial-designs, to keep with that convention. (I can't decide if I should suggest this in an answer, or just keep the conversation under this post) – pjs36 Mar 31 '18 at 1:24
• @psj36 I agree that this is a reasonable synonym. I'll give it some more time but intend to implement the proposed action(s) rather soon. (Including the plural, though I am personally not a fan of this; but yeah, it's tradition here like this and a relatively harmless one at that although [rant suppressed] ;-) – quid Mar 31 '18 at 15:38
• @quid I’m not a fan of “block designs” in the plural, either. – Wildcard Mar 31 '18 at 18:29
• Statisticians using block designs may distinguish between "blocks" and "treatments", doing something to which combinatorialists are strangers. I don't know that that's an occasion for a tag on m.s.e. – Michael Hardy Apr 7 '18 at 21:49