Applied Multidimensional Scaling of Asymmetric Relationships

This is the first book that focusses the attention on applying asymmetric multidimensional scaling (MDS) and describes how to apply it in a practical manner. The book provides the know-how for prominent methods of asymmetric MDS: analysis of asymmetric relationships and the efficient use of programs of asymmetric MDS based on a distance model. These features will facilitate the work of researchers and enlighten students in disciplines such as statistics, psychology, sociology, education, marketing science, medicine, education, and other fields. Support is provided for practitioners in these areas who are, for instance, developing new products or services, investigating dominance relationships among brands or products, researching the use of antibiotics against resistance bacteria, and developing items for tests. This informative book demonstrates the analyses of data from diverse areas to show how asymmetric relationships are prevalent in real-world relationships and helps readers grasp the meanings and implications of those relationships. The results of the analyses illustrate the importance of analyzing asymmetric relationships that cannot be perceived by analysis using traditional methods, which ignore asymmetry in the data.