Difference between Average Nearest Neighbor and Moran's I?

2747
1
03-12-2012 03:21 PM
StephenPang
New Contributor
Can anyone tell me what the difference is between the results of Average Nearest Neighbor and Moran's I? I know that they go about finding a solution in different ways but don't they essentially say the same thing: whether a set of data is clustered, dispersed or random? When would I want to use one and when would I want to use the other?

Or if anyone can point me in the direction of where I might find aforementioned information I'd appreciate that as well. I tried searching the forums, Google, etc. and haven't been able to find much. Plenty on what they are and what they do but I haven't been able to decipher what the difference is between the results of the two and when I should use one over the other.

Thank you.
0 Kudos
1 Reply
Mary_RoseLebaron
New Contributor
I have this question on a test coming up and the answer is that Average nearest neighbor is using distance relationships whereas Moran's I is measuring spatial autocorrelation based on attributes.
0 Kudos