THIS IS THE READ-ME FILE FOR THE 

       Relative Distribution Methods
		Software

             version 1.0
            27 July, 1999

This software implements the methods described in the book
"Relative Distribution Methods in the Social Sciences" 
by Mark S. Handcock and Martina Morris, 
Springer-Verlag, 1999, ISBN 0387987789 

The software and detailed documentation is available from
the Relative Distribution Website:

http://www.csde.washington.edu/~handcock/RelDist

A link to the website is maintained by the publisher at:

http://www.springer-ny.com/stats

under the heading "Author/Editor Home Pages."
The website contains descriptions of the variables and data file
formats.

The authors can be reached via electronic mail at the Internet
address handcock@stat.washington.edu.


             HOW TO BEGIN

To begin using these files, start Splus. Typically this is done by typing:
      % Splus
Once in Splus, type
      > source("reldist.s") <return>
This command should create 22 files in the .Data directory.

The Website also contains a set of Splus code to reconstruct
the figures and numerical summaries in the paper.
To create these figures type:
      > source("FigRDBX")
where X is the figure number. For example, to create a postscript version of
Figure 2.1 use:
      > source("FigRDB2.1")

To test if the software is working correctly compare the
figures to those reproduced in the book. Some of the
numerical values may be slightly different due to the fact
that they are based on Monte-Carlo calculations rather
than exact formulas.

PORTING TO SPLUS FOR WINDOWS

The shareware system is compatible with Splus for windows.
The porting of the help-files is left to the devices of the user;
The "reldist.s" files may be directly transferred, and sourced into
the windows _data directory just as it is sourced into the UNIX
.Data directory. Be sure to transfer all the original
files (both the source code and datasets).

This software was created by Mark S. Handcock, who hereby
gives permission to use the software for noncommercial
purposes and to freely distribute it.  Users are welcome
to send comments or questions regarding the software to

Mark S. Handcock
Department of Statistics
The Pennsylvania State University
311 Joab L. Thomas Building
University Park, PA 16802-2111
ph:  814-865-3993
fax: 814-863-7114
internet: handcock@stat.washington.edu