Combination of M-Estimators and Neural Network Model to Analyze Inside/Outside Bark Tree Diameters

One of the most important statistical tools is linear regression analysis for many fields such as medical sciences, social sciences, econometrics and more. Regression techniques are commonly used for modelling the relationship between response variables and explanatory variables. In this study, inside bark tree diameter was used as the dependent variable and outside bark diameter and site type as independents. While generally it is assumed that inside and outside bark diameters are linearly correlated, linear regression application is weak in the presence of outliers. The purpose of this study was to develop a Multi-Layer Perceptron neural network model which considered significant variables from an a priori developed robust regression model. The application of robust regression could be considered in selecting the input variables in a neural network model.