ABSTRACT
IN CHAPTER 11 WE examined the idea of data reduction; that is of minimising the number of variables with which we have to work, with a view to refining our data set for further analyses. Such reductions help when examining the links between many variables or when drawing conclusions about their general characteristics. In this chapter we will continue this theme of data reduction, but for a rather different purpose. It is often said that there are specific groups in society that can be related by attitudes or perceptions; for example the ‘types’ of people who are most likely to buy a particular sort of car, hold particular political views or conduct themselves in particular ways. But such categorisation is by no means restricted to human beings. In a similar fashion, regions and spatial units such as counties, states or cities can be grouped and classified, while other popular subjects for grouping are biological features such as plant and animal communities. Furthermore, for many scientists classification is an important first step in investigation and research. In the following examples we will concentrate on the grouping of individuals according to their behaviour and attitudes, but the potential for applying these methods widely across others areas in geography must not be overlooked.
