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- Title
SOCIAL DISTANCE.
- Authors
Osborne, D. K.
- Abstract
Perhaps individual differences in test-taking ability are modelled by the distance between score vectors. Perhaps the political distance between voters is modelled by the distance between their vote vectors, and the social distance between them modelled by the distance between their socioeconomic vectors. That is not the case with physical distance. Rome is closer to Paris than to London whether length is measured in miles, kilometers, feet, or any other length unit. It follows that, if there is such a thing as social distance it is not mathematically the same, that is, not given by the same formula, as physical distance. It is natural to ask whether there is some more general metric which can sensibly be taken as a model social distance. According to the results social distance is not a mathematical metric, if it exists at all it is a pseudometric. Physical distance has the strong property of being relatively invariant under changes of units. It is assumed that social distance has the weak property of being ordinally invariant under changes of units. This weak property is evidently met by any social distance concept having the strong property; and what is more important, it must be met by any social distance concept claiming to be meaningful.
- Subjects
SOCIAL distance; VECTOR analysis; SOCIOECONOMIC factors; CLASS differences; MATHEMATICAL models; INDIVIDUAL differences; SOCIAL sciences
- Publication
Quality & Quantity, 1975, Vol 9, Issue 4, p339
- ISSN
0033-5177
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/BF00144053