On the Correlation of Factors in Factorial Ecology

Abstract

"Most studies in factorial ecology use orthogonal factors. But the assumption is that this, at best can be considered a theoretically limiting case. In 'reality' factors are assumed to correlate.

"Introducing a distinction between factors describing the structure of a social system and factors describing the environment of the social system, the present paper argues that factors describing the structure of a social system in most cases will be found to be orthogonal. They will, however, have to correlate with factors describing the environment of the social system. A reanalysis of a previous study of the Norwegian factorial ecology gives some support for the argument."