Most methods of multivariate analysis rely on a measure of proximity between individual cases or samples to quantify inter-sample differences. The choice of this measure is fundamental to the method and its subsequent results. For example, when data are abundance counts of a set of species at...

Perceptual maps have been used for decades by market researchers to illuminate them about the similarity between brands in terms of a set of attributes, to position consumers relative to brands in terms of their preferences, or to study how demographic and psychometric variables relate to...