ABSTRACT
Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) is not really a new mathematical method but rather the specific application of correspondence analysis (CA) to tables with individuals and their answers to a number of categorical variables. It is nonetheless considered a separate method due to its unique properties and the interesting results obtained when using it. MCA is applied to tables with individuals in the rows and categorical variables in the columns. It is most commonly used to analyse data obtained through surveys: in such a context, each question corresponds to a variable and each possible answer to the question corresponds to a category of that variable. For example, eight possible answers (categories) are associated with the question “Which of these categories best describes your profession?” farmer, student, manual labourer, professional, senior management, employee, other profession, unemployed. For each of these variables, the individual must choose one single category.
