SaTScan

SatScan may be downloaded from its home page. Do so now, and install it (that is, save the file install.exe to disk (probably the c:\temp directory); double click on it, and take all the defaults; it should be installed to the c:\program files\satscan directory. The executable is called STSWin.exe).

Exercise: Concerned citizens in New Mexico suspected cancers of the brain and central nervous system clustered near Los Alamos National Laboratory. Information on the area is available from three files:

(again, the files are provided with SaTScan: the links above allow you to have a look at the files). Using these New Mexico data, analyze the rates to determine
  1. whether there is spatial clustering;
  2. if there is spatial clustering, the locations of the clusters significant at .05; and
  3. whether there is clustering near the coordinates (51, 39). For this third analysis, you will need to create a Grid file (call it nm.grd). It consists of a single line reading `51.0 39.0'. Enter this file name for the `Special Grid File' on the Input file tab.
  4. Specify the null spatial model in cases 1 and 3.
Notes:
Website maintained by Andy Long. Comments appreciated.