[R] Kruskal's MDS results

[Michael Denslow]

Hi Dieter,

I'll take a shot at this.
As I understand it, the stress is telling you how the ordination distances compare with original dissimilarities that you calculated.

It is a measure how well your ordination has done in representing the relationship of your sites. Note that the stress will differ depending on how many dimensions are used. I believe the default is k = 2 in isoMDS.

Hope this helps,
Michael


> 
> Dear List,
> 
> I'm trying to interpret the results of the Kruskal's
> Non-metric Multidimensional Scaling algorithm (isoMDS, MASS
> package).
> 
> The 'goodness of fit' is reported as "The final stress
> achieved (in percent)".
> 
> What does this mean exactly? I've tried to google for an
> answer but I've not come up with a definitive answer.
> 
> Regards,
> Dieter
> 
> 
> --
> Dieter Vanderelst
> PhD Student
> 
> Active Perception Lab
> University of Antwerp
> http://batbits.webnode.com/
> 
> Postal Address:
> Prinsstraat 13
> B-2000 Antwerp
> Belgium

Michael Denslow

Graduate Student
I.W. Carpenter Jr. Herbarium [BOON]
Department of Biology
Appalachian State University
Boone, North Carolina U.S.A.

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