2.15 or Not 2.15? An Historical‐Analytical Inquiry into the Nearest‐Neighbor Statistic

Nearest-neighbor analysis (NNA)—a method for assessing the degree to which a spatial point pattern departs from randomness in direction of being either clustered or regular—was imported into academic geography an article published 1954 by ecologists Clark and Evans. In its simplest form, concerned with distances first nearest neighbor, NNA hinged on behavior “nearest-neighbour statistic,” Rn, supposed vary between 0 (complete clustering) 2.15 regularity). wider body work quickly gained sophistication, meaning that this simple test statistic only featured briefly frontline research literature geographical analysis. Nonetheless, given easy-to-grasp logic, it became remains staple quantitative textbooks undergraduate students statistical methods training school-level curricula. The purpose paper is chart history geography, provide analytical demonstration value has been mistakenly identified as upper limit latter. Broader speculations are then offered about what may be learned how discipline handled statistic.