one a page. Somewhat akin to footnotes, these insetscontinually present the reader with the `dilemma'of whether to continue pursuing the narrative ¯owof the main body of text, or pause to follow aninteresting diversion. There is, in addition, anagging doubt that to omit reading an inset wouldbe to miss something important. For example, thelinkage between the household and individual levelquestions on migration is spelt out in a Q&A inset(p. 216) rather than at an appropriate point in themain body of the text. However, in the majority ofcases, the key points covered in Q&A insets are alsocovered (albeit in less detail) in the main text. The`New in `90' feature works rather better, allowingcomparisons with previous censuses to be made,without unnecessarily complicating matters forthose interested only in the 1990 census. A secondpotential quibble might be about the timeliness of abook published in 1996 to describe the outputs froma 1990 census programme. However, that is nowobviously water under the bridge, and the possibletardiness of the book is, in any case, matched by acommensurate gain in keeping up with the latestchanges in US Census Bureau dissemination policyand outputs, as exempli®ed by the chapter onavailable internet resources.The potential readership for Lavin's book would

appear at ®rst sight to be almost any user of 1990 UScensus data, from the ®rst-time novice through tothe seasoned analyst. However, I suspect the actualreadership will lie somewhere between these twoextremes. The very comprehensiveness of the guide

will perhaps prove too intimidating for the ®rst-time or casual user, whilst the care taken to explainthoroughly the whole range of census concepts andproducts in layman's termswill perhaps prove to betoo much for the expert user to bother wadingthrough. In addition, it should be stressed that thisis a book aimed primarily at understanding andaccessing census outputs (similar to the British 1991Census User's Guide: Dale and Marsh, 1993), ratherthan at how to analyse census data (as in the CensusUser's Handbook, Openshaw, 1995). In summary, forusers with some previous experience of usingcensus data (from whatever country), or for the®rst-time user set upon mastering the full complex-ities of the 1990 US census, this could well be thebook to buy. But I cannot ®nish this review withoutquoting at least one of Lavin's numerous anecdotes:`During the 1980 Census, workers were paid

piece-rate wages ¼ a practice which may haveencouraged overcounting [!!]' (p. 87)

PAUL WILLIAMSON

University of Liverpool, UK

REFERENCES

Dale, A. and Marsh, C. (eds) (1993) The 1991 CensusUser's Guide (London: HMSO)

Openshaw, S. (ed.) (1995) Census Users' Handbook(Cambridge: GeoInformation International)

PLACES AND PEOPLE: MULTILEVEL MODEL-LING IN GEOGRAPHICAL RESEARCH. edited byG. P. Westert and R. N. Verhoeff. KNAG/Nether-lands Geographical Studies. Utrecht, 1997. No. ofpages: 128. Price: D¯ 27.50 (paper back). ISBN 906809 247 2.

Multilevel modelling is continuing its gradualemergence as a data analysis technique of consider-able popularity, as evidenced by a growing numberof practitioners and reported application areas.Although initial applications focused on researchrelating to educational attainment, the utility ofmultilevel modelling for exploring a wider range ofissues including health and migration has alreadybeen underlined by previous articles published in

this journal and elsewhere (Boyle and Shen, 1997;Jones and Duncan, 1995). For those still in the dark,multilevel modelling is a recently developedstatistical technique for apportioning macro-levelvariations in some observed phenomena betweenmicro-(individual) and macro-(context) level`causes'. For example, Jones and Duncan (1995)concluded that spatial variations in chronic healthacross Great Britain cannot be explained awaysimply by reference to variations in individual-leveldemographic, socio-economic and behavioural fac-tors. Proponents of multilevel modelling argue thatit is statistically more parsimonious and theor-etically more rigorous than the conventional ap-proach to such problems, which has been to addmacro-level dummy variables (e.g. a dummy for

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Book Reviews 277

each region of interest) to a standard regressionmodel.As the editors of Places and People rightly stress in

their introduction, the macro-level `context' in amultilevel model does not have to be viewed instrictly spatial terms. Other contexts that could,arguably, in¯uence individual behaviour, such asthe temporal and organisational, can also beenvisaged. However, Places and People: MultilevelModelling in Geographical Research draws together anumber of papers presented at a 1996 seminarhosted by the Urban Research Centre of the Facultyof Geographical Sciences at the University ofUtrecht (NETHUR) and perhaps unsurprisinglyemphasises the notion of spatial context. Thecontributors at the seminar included two guestspeakers (Kelvyn Jones and Craig Duncan from theUniversity of Portsmouth), members of NETHURresearch staff and PhD students from a range ofDutch academic institutions. The papers includedin Places and People re¯ect this range of participants,both in terms of research experience and in terms ofresearch interests. As will become apparent, thisvery diversity of interests and experience is a sourceof both strength and weakness.In total, seven papers are included, covering

between them a wide range of theoretical andapplied considerations regarding multilevel model-ling. The ®rst three papers are reported by theeditors to be based on `three lectures by seniorresearchers, who were asked to talk about theirresearch activities and how they cope with theproblem of multilevel modelling' (p. 8, my em-phasis). The ®rst substantive paper, by PeterGroenewegen, has in one sense very little to dowith multilevel modelling. Certainly, no statisticalmultilevel model is developed or presented. How-ever, Groenewegen does present an interestingtheoretical exploration of the micro±macro issuesunderpinning the relationships between indivi-duals and place/institutional contexts in the deliv-ery and uptake of healthcare services. In contrast,Kelvyn Jones' chapter on the application of multi-level modelling to the analysis of voting behaviourprovides perhaps the clearest non-technical sum-mary of the bene®ts and pitfalls of multilevelmodelling I have yet encountered amongst the(many) accounts of this general topic written byJones and his colleagues at Portsmouth. The thirdpaper, by Tom de Jong and Henk Ottens, discussesin broad terms the problems associated withnesting lower-level spatial objects within higher-level spatial objects. Whilst spatial data are certainlyhierarchical, as are multilevel models, and whilstsome speculation was made regarding the integra-tion of multilevel modelling with GIS data-

handling techniques, this paper none the lessappears to me to sit uncomfortably within acollection of multilevel modelling papers. Perhapsthe problem is that I have an overly narrowconception of what is meant by `multilevel model-ling', based too rigidly around the notion of the typeof statistical technique outlined above. In any case,the authors certainly ful®lled the editors' remit to`talk about their research'.The second half of People and Places comprises a

series of three papers presented by Dutch PhDstudents, followed by a second guest paper. In the®rst of these papers Alice de Boer, PeterGroenewegen and Pieter Hooimeijer present aninteresting case study of `home help utilisationunder conditions of restricted supply'. Althoughnot stated in the paper, there are clear parallelsbetween the Dutch and British experience in thisarea and, I suspect, the experiences of many other`developed' countries. However, rather perverselygiven the supposed substantive focus of this book,regional variation in uptake of home help wasmodelled using a series of regional logistic regres-sion models, rather than the newer and supposedlymethodologically superior multilevel modellingapproach. Even more unaccountably, no attemptwas made to acknowledge the existence of analternative approach, or to discuss the relative prosand cons of the two approaches. Robert Verheijredresses this apparent imbalance somewhat in thefollowing chapter, in which he presents the resultsof investigating the role of place in the uptake ofphysiotherapy services, using a multilevel model asthe tool of analysis. He concludes that place (asmeasured by `urbanicity') does matter ± just.Shifting the focus away from a health motiftemporarily, Linda Smit addresses the generalproblem of macro±micro perspectives on changingcommuter distances in the Netherlands, attemptingto disentangle the relative roles of changes inresidential location due to changes in lifestyle andchanges in employment location. Although clearlyreporting on work still at a preliminary stage, shegoes on to provide a thoughtful and interestingaccount of the possibilities of undertaking a multi-level analysis of the relationship between home andwork.The ®nal paper in the collection, by Craig

Duncan, provides a detailed `worked example' ofhow to extend a conventional multivariate multi-level model to accommodate the use of a mixture ofboth categorical and continuous response variablesat the same time. The particular example presentedfocuses on levels of smoking, with a categoricalvariable distinguishing between smokers and non-smokers and a continuous variable identifying the

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278 Book Reviews

number of cigarettes smoked per day by smokers.Interestingly, Duncan ®nds that smoking behaviourcan be explained satisfactorily with reference onlyto individual-level sociodemographic factors, with-out recourse to notions of `between place' differ-ences. Although a `non-®nding' in one sense, thissort of result is actually a very important one.Whereas multilevel models that purport to havediscovered somemacro-level effect are always opento the criticism that any such ®nding is spurious,being the result of a poorly speci®ed microlevelmodel, the ®nding of no macro-level effect elim-inates possible concerns about the contextual effectspeci®ed.In summary, Places and People is a well produced

book, although perhaps not having quite the sharpfocus implied by its title. It does contain a variety ofpotentially interesting and thought-provoking arti-cles about micro±macro issues in general andmulti-level modelling in particular. Those interested in

these sorts of issues could do far worse than toinspect a copy of this book. An unexpected by-product might be a brief insight into the currentstate of the Dutch healthcare system.

PAUL WILLIAMSON

University of Liverpool, UK

REFERENCES

Boyle, P. and Shen, J. (1997) Public housing andmigration: a multi-level modelling approach.International Journal of Population Geography3:227±42

Jones, K. and Duncan, C. (1995) Individuals andtheir ecologies: analysing the geography ofchronic illness within a multilevel modellingframework. Health and Place 1:27±40

MIGRATION IN EUROPEAN HISTORY editedby C. Holmes. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, 1996.No of pages: xxi � 644 (vol. 1), viii � 593 (vol. 2).Price £250.00 (hardback, 2 volume set). ISBN1 85898 421 1.

This enormous two-volume book is the fourth in aseries of edited collections of readings which aim toencompass the broad ®eld of migration studies. Itcomprises a set of important journal articlesconcerned with (mainly international) migrationin the (relatively recent) history of Europe, togetherwith an eight-page introduction by the editor. Otherbooks in the series cover the theory of migrationand geographical, sociological, legal and politicalperspectives upon the migration process. However,the focus of this collection is not simply directedtowards historical studies of migration trends andprocesses, since a number of papers are includedthat are concerned with the contemporary livingconditions of migrant groups living in Europe(although most include at least a brief overview ofthe historical context of migration).The 51 reprints (26 in volume 1 and 25 in volume

2) are grouped into eight sections termed as follows;`general studies' (2 papers), `historical overview'(16 papers), `neglected groups' (2 papers), `hostility'(6 papers), `new lives in new environments' (9

papers), `comparative perspectives' (6 papers),`links with the past and the road home' (9 papers)and `the future history of migration' (1 paper).Given the focus on the history of European migra-tion in its broadest context, it is perhaps surprisingthat all of the papers included in these two volumeswere originally published after the Second WorldWar, the majority appearing during the 1980s and1990s. The selection by topic is rather uneven;nearly a tenth of the book is taken up by threepapers on Jewish migration, while some majormigration streams to Europe (for example, Indiansand Bangladeshis) are completely ignored. Thebulk of the papers are concerned with the migrationexperiences of indigenous European ethnic groups,either within Europe or in new geographicalcontexts, such as North America. Despite itsunevenness, the book provides a valuable sourceof reference for comparative studies of the historicalimpact of and response to migration within anumber of (mainly Western European) countries,and for comparing the migration history of anumber of migrant groups.There is no interpretation of the readings in-

cluded, save that provided in the editor's introduc-tion. However, this introductory chapter is ratherunsatisfactory. It takes the form of a short penportrait outlining the role of migration in the history

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Book Reviews 279