An R script to facilitate correspondence analysis. A guide to the use and the interpretation of results from an archaeological perspective

Abstract

Over the years Correspondence Analysis has become a valuable tool for archaeologists because it enables them to explore patterns of associations in large contingency tables. While commercial statistical programs provide the facility to perform Correspondence Analysis, a number of packages are available for the free R statistical environment. Nonetheless, its command-line structure may be intimidating for users and prevent them from considering the technique. This article describes an R script, written by the author, which aims to free the R user from manually entering long pieces of code. By discussing two worked examples, it shows how the script can provide the user with a body of graphical and textual outputs relevant to the interpretation of data structure. It is hoped that the script will allow the user to concentrate more on the analysis results rather than the syntax of the R environment.