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The paper describes a exploratory procedure for data analysis for use within GIS. The objective is to search digital map databases for the presence of geographical relationships that may be useful for descriptive purposes, as a pointer towards areas for further investigation, and as a means of generating hypotheses for subsequent testing. A prototype Geographical Correlates Exploration Machine (GCEM) is demonstrated by searching for possible linkages between children with leukaemia and a selection of environmental coverages. Arc Info is used for the GIS parts and a Cray X-MP/48 supercomputer for the analysis. Ultimately, it is envisaged that GCEM will be able to run entirely within a GIS workstation environment.
Openshaw et al. (Sun,) studied this question.