MARKOV: a BASIC program for numerical analysis of sequential data on the microcomputer

Abstract The computer program presented in this paper performs numerical analysis of sequential data. It is written in BASIC and is intended to run on an IBM PC or compatible microcomputer. The program can use either sequential data or tally matrices as input. Data may be entered interactively or from data files. The user has the option of performing any or all of three types of analysis: (1) Markov analysis, which tests the statistical significance of the sequence; (2) substitutability analysis, which tests the tendency of states in a sequence to occur in a common context, that is to be preceded or followed by the same states; and (3) entropy analysis, which calculates the amount of disorder in the sequence, and allows the recognition of the type of succession represented by the data.