Spatial Analysis of Membership and Success in the Kingdom of Ansteorra

Abstract

Humans study success in order to identify habits or traits of successful people and to acquire such traits. This thesis is an extension of that activity, being a study of a world-wide medieval recreation group (the Society for Creative Anachronism), focusing on one particular region (the Kingdom of Ansteorra), with the twin goals to determine if there is a spatial relationship to becoming successful and if there are any spatial patterns in membership, both demographically and geographically. This study is a foray into the search for success, and attempts to quantify what factors, especially those of a geographical nature, contribute heavily to success in the kingdom. By identifying successful people in Ansteorra (peers and past Crowns) and comparing them to their location, any geographical factors to success can be revealed. Once revealed, these factors can be utilized by new members or those seeking improvement, in an effort to become more successful. The results of this thesis were mixed. For some of the questions, there was a spatial relationship to success (becoming a peer or winning Crown Tournament), and in others there was not. There does appear to be a geographical relationship to membership and winning Crown Tournament, but not necessarily to being successful or receiving awards.