Modified Moran's I for Small Samples

Tomaz Back Carrijo, Alan Ricardo da Silva

Geographical Analysis 49 (2017) 451-467

https://doi.org/10.1111/gean.12130

The most common indicator used to measure spatial dependence is Moran's I proposed by statistician Patrick A. P. Moran in 1950. The index is simple to use and applies the principle of the Pearson correlation coefficient, although it incorporates a proximity measure between elements. However, Moran's I tends to underestimate real spatial autocorrelation when the number of locations are few. This study aims to present a modified version of Moran's I that can measure real spatial autocorrelation even with small samples and check for spatial dependence.