Applying bootstrapped Correspondence Analysis to archaeological data

What is it about?

Correspondence Analysis is a statistical method which allows the user to see the patterns that underlie a table of data. The technique is, however, a purely geometrical representation of those data and does not allow one to see how stable the results are. In other words, if the data were slightly different, would the results look much the same? Bootstrapping is a method of being able to assess this by analyzing multiple simulations of the data and plotting how much variation there is in the results.

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Why is it important?

Although bootstrapped CA has been around for quite some time, it has never been easy to perform without some extensive computer skills. Now, via the R statistical software system, it is much easier. Archaeologists regularly collect this sort of data, and being able to see the underlying patterns and assess the strength of those patterns is an important tool.

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