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Learning about Spatial and Temporal Proximity using Tree-Based Methods

  • Ines Levin ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: March 8, 2022
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Abstract

Learning about the relationship between distance to landmarks and events and phenomena of interest is a multi-faceted problem, as it may require taking into account multiple dimensions, including: spatial position of landmarks, timing of events taking place over time, and attributes of occurrences and locations. Here I show that tree-based methods are well suited for the study of these questions as they allow exploring the relationship between proximity metrics and outcomes of interest in a non-parametric and data-driven manner. I illustrate the usefulness of tree-based methods vis-à-vis conventional regression methods by examining the association between: (i) distance to border crossings along the US-Mexico border and support for immigration reform, and (ii) distance to mass shootings and support for gun control.


Corresponding author: Ines Levin, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, University of California at Irvine, 3151 Social Science Plaza, Irvine, 92697, CA, USA, E-mail:

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Supplementary Material

The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/spp-2021-0031).


Received: 2021-12-14
Accepted: 2022-01-19
Published Online: 2022-03-08
Published in Print: 2022-03-28

© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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