Assessing Different Spatial Grouping Algorithms: An Application to the Design of Australia's New Statistical Geography

Abstract

Algorithms have been used to assist in the design of statistical geographies which define areal groupings for which official data are collected. Typically the groupings based on different parameter values or different algorithms are not formally compared, but summary statistics based on each solution can be constructed, some of which are based on fuzzy set principles. These principles can also be used to make incremental adjustments to solutions, based on different criteria. In this paper, we adopt the above methodology to compare the new statistical geography for New South Wales developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics with that generated by an amended version of the Coombes algorithm.

RÉSUMÉ On a utilisé des algorithmes pour faciliter la conception de géographies statistiques définissant des groupements par zone pour lesquels des données officielles sont recueillies. En général, on ne compare pas officiellement les groupements basés sur différentes valeurs paramétriques ou différents algorithmes, mais il est possible de créer des statistiques sommaires sur la base de chaque solution, certaines desquelles sont fondées sur des ensembles de principes flous. Ces principes peuvent également être utilisés pour effectuer des modifications progressives sur des solutions, sur la base de différents critères. Dans la présente communication, nous adoptons la méthodologie susmentionnée pour comparer la nouvelle géographie statistique pour la province des Nouvelles Galles du Sud, créée par l'Australian Bureau of Statistics, avec celle qui a été produite par une version modifiée de l'algorithme de Coombes.

EXTRACTO Se han utilizado algoritmos para ayudar en el diseño de geografías estadísticas que definan los agrupamientos de áreas para los que se recopilan datos oficiales. Típicamente, los agrupamientos basados en valores de parámetros diferentes o algoritmos diferentes no se comparan formalmente, pero pueden construirse estadísticas resumidas basadas en cada solución, algunas de las cuales se basan en principios establecidos difusos. Estos principios también pueden emplearse para hacer ajustes incrementales a soluciones, basados en diferentes criterios. En este estudio, adoptamos la metodología anterior para comparar la nueva geografía estadística aplicable a Nueva Gales del Sur, desarrollada por la Australian Bureau of Statistics, con la generada por una versión modificada del algoritmo de Coombes.

摘要 : 在统计地理学设计中人们引入一些算法来定义采集官方数据的不同区域

分组 。通 常情况下 ' 基于不同参数或者算法的分组方式之间不会进行正式比较 ' 但是我们可以基于每种方法构建统计概要 ' 其中有一些使用了模糊集合理论 。这些理论也可用来根据不同准则对方案进行增量调整 。本文中 ' 我们使用上述方法比较了澳大利亚统计局为新南威尔士州建立的新统计地理学和采用修订的Coombes算法 得到的统计地理学 。     

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