Audio file
Title: Alan Lomax, David Brown, and Norman Berkowitz discuss geographic factor analysis and expressive style (part 1)
Date recorded: March 19, 1976
Contributor(s): Contributor: Berkowitz, Norman; Contributor: Brown, David; Contributor: Lomax, AlanBelongs to: Berkowitz/Brown/Lomax, 1976
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Date recorded: March 19, 1976
Contributor(s): Contributor: Berkowitz, Norman; Contributor: Brown, David; Contributor: Lomax, Alan
Subject(s): Cantometrics; Linguistics
Genre: interview/commentary
Location:
Tape number: T3643
Track Number: 1
Archive ID: T3643
Note: Propriety of allowing factor analysis to simply delineate highly inter-related clusters and then to drop the loadings. Tests of significance and subsequent cluster mapping. Clusters versus weighted linear combination variables. Uniques and clusters. Indicating strength of link with bandwidth graphic - a diagram that summarizes much. Alan Lomax: The dimension of complexity brings together all similar factors from all the systems. In a case where one dominant measure is emerging, it is insensitive to minor variations. Standardizing the range is similar to turning to two scores. Significance of a dual approach: first take a carefully ordered world sample of cultures that represent all the provinces of the world, stratified, in that each province has about the same number of cultures. We get six regions and each region has, say, 10 areas per region (e.g., the plains and the pueblo). Six regions produce 57 areas. From a second factor analysis of these we get zones of culture all geographically pure. A bonded map of those gives about the same neat picture of human evolution that we get from this other and independent analysis. This augurs well for the use of limited resources. Testing parsimony. Doing it two ways is a substitute for a significance test. A somewhat different sample gives the same result. We've gone one step further. We have done a separate factor analysis of geographic taxonomies. Two different systems of measurement for social, musical, dance, instruments, and speech produce maps that are alike - not the same but close family resemblance. An added feature: you can identify variables that have similar meanings. Ecological discoveries have been made independently from different centers. Does lack of agreement in geographic clusters reflect different proportion of some dimensions than they do other elements? About 25% of variables reflect complexity - stratification, whereas in song 87% reflect these dimensions. Perhaps we should have fewer domains. Complexity loading has to be very significant. Alan Lomax: The social variables in Murdock were arrived at ad hoc. They concentrated so heavily on the family that we had to throw out about a third of them. The variables were biasing the result. The problem is how to have a balanced system. Choreometrics, on the other hand, totally weighted every factor to technology. Of ten common factors, two thirds were tied to manipulation. Margaret Mead's comment was: "Of course, dance is very dull." When we did regional analysis by song we had to change the weight of complexity to make the neatest possible regional geographic taxonomy. Everything in Europe turned out to be the same because we had so many European measures. We reduced the value of ten of those measures. In other parts of the world we weighted complexity up because we had so many measures of their simplicity. Data reduction. R-factors and Q-factors. Our approach has been to reduce the enormity of the data. For example, instead of "embellishment," ornamentation in general. Norman Berkowitz: It's not really a reduction but an effect of a heap of factors on another heap. Most factor analysts posit that one can take single values. If you were to take one song, it represents the culture but ten songs would be better. If you mix together variables it should be more stable. Alan Lomax: By cutting the factor fields and comparing the differences we might get a better, simpler structure.
About the session: Alan Lomax, David Brown, and Norman Berkowitz discuss geographic factor analysis and expressive style
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