On measuring patterns of neighbourly relationships

This paper focuses on certain geographical aspects of social interaction and in particular on the problems of measuring patterns of social relationships between people. First the relevant characteristics of neighbourly interactions are examined, and the distinction drawn between studies at individual and aggregate levels respectively. The concern subsequently is primarily with the measurement problems at the aggregate or group level, and a technique for analysing patterns of social relations is described called the standard deviational ellipse. Drawing upon research which has recently been carried out in selected neighbourhoods of the City of Cardiff, the paper discusses the utility of this method for analysing the eommunality in patterns of neighbourly interaction as a basis for generalisation, and argues the case for further social-geographical research in this field.