USE OF COMPUTER GRAPHICS IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF PRODUCTION RESPONSE SURFACES

Various statistical measures and prior knowledge of functional relationships have traditionally been the main guides in developing production response equations. Computer graphics provide a valuable addition to this developmental process. Through graphics, the characteristics of a large volume of data can be visually analyzed. In addition, the physical characteristics of alternative functional forms can more easily be compared to the original data. Computer graphics were used to analyze raw data through surface and contour plots, and to compare three alternative functional forms chosen to represent the data. The example cited demonstrated the potential advantage of using computer graphics as a visual research tool in production studies