Subject: PERMAP: Perceptual Mapping Software
From: <Saved by Windows Internet Explorer 8>
Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2012 10:18:30 -0500

PERMAP
11.8a

(PERceptual
MAPping Software)

PERMAP is a free,
Windows-based (Win 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, Win7), real-time interactive
program for making perceptual maps (also called product maps, strategic maps,
sociograms, sociometric maps, psychometric maps, stimulus-response maps,
relationship maps, concept maps, etc.). Its fundamental purpose is to uncover
any "hidden structure" that might be residing in a complex data set.

PERMAP takes
object-to-object proximity values (also called similarities, dissimilarities,
correlations, distances, interactions, psychological distances, dependencies,
confusabilities, preferences, joint or conditional probabilities, etc.), or up
to 30 object attribute values which can be used to calculate one of the forgoing
types of promities, and uses multidimensional scaling (MDS) to make a map that
shows the relationships between the objects. Succinctly, PERMAP makes classical
metric and nonmetric MDS analyses in one, two, three, … or eight dimensions, for
one-mode two-way or two-mode two-way data, with up to 1000 objects and with
missing values allowed.
Ignoring jargon, PERMAP makes all the common types of MDS analyses.  In addition, it can make several new
types of MDS analyses involving error bounds or boundary conditions, and it can
show the affect of degrading the proximity (similarity)
information.

PERMAP has been downloaded
and installed on thousands of PCs since 1995. This page is visited about 15 to
20 times per day but at the start of an academic semester the daily rate usually
doubles. PERMAP has been loaded on the servers of dozens of universities,
companies and research organizations.

PERMAP's main claim-to-fame
is that it lets you drag-and-drop objects in and out of the active set while the
map is evolving and being displayed.
It also allows complete on-line control of the badness function, distance
metric, attributes-to-proximities formula, attribute set composition, mapping
weights, and metric or nonmetric MDS, again, while the solution is running and
the developing map is being displayed. The solution can be mirrored, rotated,
translated, or zoomed. The bottom line is that PERMAP gives you more real-time
control over your solution than any other MDS program. It lets you get a "feel"
for the solution and it lets you see, immediately, the changes that occur if you
change any of your assumptions.

PERMAP has been specifically
designed to expose problems associated with local minima.  If you have
worked with MDS but have not discovered the real probability of the occurrence
of results that are controlled by local minima then you need to experiment with
PERMAP. This problem is well documented in the literature but too often is
ignored by new users. The problem is not solved by using rationalized starting
points. You have to experiment with real-time analyses, using real data, to
really understand it. See the PERMAP operation manual for more information on
this important point.

Downloading: The executable file and
some example files come as a “zipped” unit (actually, it comes using the RAR zip
protocol that is being used more and more nowaday – get a free “unRAR” program
from the web – RAR programs will handle the older zip format as well as all the
other flavors of file compressors – and a big benefit is that most ISPs will
allow RAR email attachments even if they contain an exe file whereas few ISPs
will allow emailed zipped exe files nowadays). By clicking on the following link
you can direct your browser to transfer the compressed file to your computer.
This file is less than 200 kb in size.

Get PERMAP

Operation
Manual: PERMAP's operation manual
is approximately 75 pages long. It can be downloaded in pdf format. If you don't
want your Adobe Acrobat reader to open it, right click on the link and choose
Save Target As.

Get PERMAP Manual

History:
The original DOS version of
PERMAP came out with limited distribution in 1993.  During 1995 it was made
available via the web.  It got rave reviews from a small bunch of very
enthusiastic and charming individuals.  By 1998 it was clear that PERMAP
needed to be entirely rewritten to make it compatible with the Windows operating
system.  The first Windows version became available in 2000.

Related
Programs:
For information on other multidimensional scaling computer programs, be sure to
check out the entire MDSX web site.  The MDSX effort has resulted a library
of stand-alone MDS programs using a common command language and operating under
MS DOS. It is undergoing a major revision, first to make source, documentation
and test data downloadable at a single program level, and second to produce
Windows and UNIX versions of the package. The MDSX team is committed to the
principle of not-for-profit academic software. Contact: Professor Tony Coxon at
[email-masked] or mailto:[email-masked]?subject=Permap
for communication with the MDSX team.

A
book that comments on a wide range of MDS programs,
and comes with a disk with several MDS programs, is Multidimensional
Scaling, by T. F. Cox and M. A. A. Cox, second edition, published by Chapman
& Hall, 2001.  Modern Multidimensional Scaling: Theory and
Applications, second edition, Springer, 2005, by I. Borg and P. Groenen, is
a good book for beginners and seasoned practitioners. Its new edition is
particularly clear and pragmatic, while at the same time it presents the
rigourous mathematics behind the examples.

Legal
Stuff:
PERMAP is academic freeware. It is the copyrighted (1993-2011) property of
Ronald B. Heady. You may use PERMAP and copy it as much as you want as long as
you do not sell it or transfer it for a profit. PERMAP is offered “as is.” It
comes with no guarantee of any kind. Its author accepts no liability associated
with its use. If you do not accept these restrictions then you do not have
permission to download or use PERMAP.

Feedback: Suggestions for
improvements are always welcome. Professor Tony Coxon and his classes have
provided valuable comments that have speeded along PERMAP's evolution. Many
thanks to them, and to all the others that have sent in suggestions for
improvement or words of encouragement.

Professor Ronald B. Heady,
retired
Formerly of the B.I. Moody College of Business Administration

University of Louisiana at Lafayette
email: Ron Heady