Data analysis

Articles

• Measure
  6 August 2004, by L. S.

  Operation of measure(ment) consists in attributing values to phenomena of interest in the frame of geographical questioning. On the one hand, it is used to characterise attributes of studied objects, and in these cases comes before any processing. On the other hand , it plays a role downstream, to characterise spatial forms, to describe nature and intensity of relations, to qualify similarities, etc. In the first case, measure is apprehended in the phase of acquisition of information and (...)

• Data analysis
  13 October 2004, by L. S.

  By the terms “data analysis” is meant in statistics a set of multi-dimensional descriptive methods. These methods generally require information organised in the following way: “n” statistic individuals (spatial entities, households, firms...) described by “p” variables. These methods allow summarising information contained in data tables with large dimensions (table n lines x p columns). Two “families” of methods may be distinguished: Factor (...)

• Qualitative variables
  6 October 2004, by L. S.

  Qualitative variables refer to information grasped through modalities.
  For category variables, these modalities do not have any quantitative meaning and there is no ordering relationship between them. This is the case for example for the gender or the social category at individual level, the political colour of the municipal council at the municipal level, or the status of prefecture at the level of cities. When it has only two modalities, the variable is said dichotomous.
  The most (...)

• Spatial statistics
  6 August 2004, by L. S.

  Taken in its broadest methodological meaning, this term designates any analysis using the statistical tool and presenting a spatial dimension, whether this dimension concerns the tool itself, the object of analysis or variables used as descriptors of this object. Various combinations are indeed possible: only the object is spatial: the focus is set on localised spatial entities (regions, cities, municipalities, plots) but this location does not play an " active " role in statistical (...)