The Robust Fit option reduces the influence of outliers in the response variable. The Huber M-estimation method is used. Huber M-estimation finds parameter estimates that minimize the Huber loss function:
where
ei refers to the residuals
The Huber loss function penalizes outliers and increases as a quadratic for small errors and linearly for large errors. For more information about robust fitting, see Huber (1973) and Huber and Ronchetti (2009). See Example of the Robust Fit Option.