the diffusion possibility method: a more general and simpler solution to Galton's problem1
- 1 November 1976
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in American Ethnologist
- Vol. 3 (4) , 731-749
- https://doi.org/10.1525/ae.1976.3.4.02a00100
Abstract
A new statistical technique permits detection of the influence of certain types of diffusion on the results of a cross‐cultural analysis. The key tool is a “diffusion possibility matrix” which shows the possibility of diffusion occuring between each pair of societies in the sample. With the aid of such a matrix, several different kinds of clustering tests are described and demonstrated. The method has the advantage of greater flexibility and simplicity than previous methods, as well as greater statistical power.This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- World Ethnographic SampleAmerican Anthropologist, 1957
- On a Method of Investigating the Development of Institutions; Applied to Laws of Marriage and DescentThe Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 1889