A General Overview of Response Surface Methodology

Abstract

Response surface methodology (RSM) is a collection of statistical and mathematical techniques used for the purpose of I. Setting up a series of experiments (design) for adequate predictions of a response y. II. Fitting a hypothesized (empirical) model to data obtained under the chosen design. III. Determining optimum conditions on the model's input (control) variables that lead to maximum or minimum response within a region of interest. Formal work on RSM began with the publication of the article On the Experimental Attainment of Optimum Conditions by Box et al. [1].