Staff profile

Nick Cox is interested in statistical applications within geography, including exploratory data analysis, graphics, smoothing, fitting of probability distributions, circular statistics and spatial analysis. Within geomorphology, hydrology and climatology his research has ranged from morphometry and modelling of hillslope, glacial and karstic forms, through analysis of precipitation distributions (e.g. the CSEP model developed with Professor Mike Kirkby of Leeds), to study of temperature variations in the Durham University Observatory record. Nick has developed software in various statistical and mathematical languages, including Stata, Awk and J. He is well-known in the Stata community as a prolific program writer, Chair of Stata London User Meetings (1997, 2000, 2002), former Associate Editor of the Stata Technical Bulletin, Executive Editor of the Stata Journal, and a frequent contributor to Statalist. Some of his programs have been incorporated in Stata 6.0 (1999), 7.0 (2001) and 8.0 (2003) and many others are available at the link below. A long-established interest in the history, methodology and philosophy of geomorphology is currently expressed in joint editorial work on the forthcoming History of the Study of Landforms, volume 4. Nick is also Book Review Editor of Earth Surface Processes and Landforms and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Statistical Software.

• environmental statistics
• geomorphology
• history and methodology of geography
• stata statistical software

Chapter in book

• Kimber, O., Allison, R., & Cox, N. (2002). Rates and mechanisms of change of hard rock steep slopes on the Colorado Plateau, USA. In R. Allison (Ed.), Applied Geomorphology (65-89). John Wiley and Sons
• Cox, N. (2001). Renaming variables, multiply and systematically. In H. Newton (Ed.), The Stata Technical Bulletin Reprints (41-44)
• Cox, N. (2001). Enhancements to numbers of missions and present values. In H. Newton (Ed.), The Stata Technical Bulletin Reprints (7-9)
• Cox, N. (2001). Describing variables in memory: update to Stata 7.0. In H. Newton (Ed.), The Stata Technical Bulletin Reprints. Stata Corporation
• Cox, N. (2001). Listing distinct values of a variable. In H. Newton (Ed.), The Stata Technical Bulletin Reports (46-49)

Journal Article

• Cox, N. J. (2023). Speaking Stata: Finding the denominator: Minimum sample size from percentages. The Stata Journal, 23(4), 1086-1095. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x231212453
• Cox, N. J. (2023). Speaking Stata: Replacing missing values: The easiest problems. The Stata Journal, 23(3), 884-896. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x231196519
• Cox, N. J. (2023). Stata tip 151: Puzzling out some logical operators. The Stata Journal, 23(1), https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x231162009
• Cox, N. J. (2022). Stata tip 148: Searching for words within strings. The Stata Journal, 22(4), 998-1003. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x221141068
• Cox, N. J. (2022). Speaking Stata: The largest five - A tale of tail values. The Stata Journal, 22(2), 446-459. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x221106436
• Cox, N. J. (2022). Stata tip 145: Numbering weeks within months. The Stata Journal, 22(1), https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x221083928
• Cox, N. J. (2022). Speaking Stata: Automating axis labels: Nice numbers and transformed scales. The Stata Journal, 22(4), 975-995. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x221141058
• Cox, N. J. (2021). Speaking Stata: Ordering or ranking groups of observations. The Stata Journal, 21(3), 818-837. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x211045582
• Cox, N. J. (2021). Stata tip 141: Adding marginal spike histograms to quantile and cumulative distribution plots. The Stata Journal, 21(3), 838-846. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x211045583
• Cox, N. J. (2021). Speaking Stata: Front-and-back plots to ease spaghetti and paella problems. The Stata Journal, 21(2), 539-554. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x211025838
• Cox, N. J. (2021). Stata tip 140: Shorter or fewer category labels with graph bar. The Stata Journal, 21(1), 263 - 271. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x211000032
• Cox, N. J. (2021). Stata tip 144: Adding variable text to graphs that use a by() option. The Stata Journal, 21(4), https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x211063413
• Cox, N. J. (2021). Speaking Stata: Loops in parallel. The Stata Journal, 21(4), https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x211063415
• Cox, N. J. (2020). Stata tip 139: The by() option of graph can work better than graph combine. The Stata Journal, 20(4), 1016 - 1027. https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x20976341
• Cox, N. J. (2020). Speaking Stata: Loops, again and again. The Stata Journal, 20(4), https://doi.org/10.1177/1536867x20976340
• Haas, T., Densmore, A., Hond, T., & Cox, N. (2019). Fan‐surface evidence for debris‐flow avulsion controls and probabilities, Saline Valley, California. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 124(5), 1118-1138. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018jf004815
• Evans, I., & Cox, N. (2017). Comparability of cirque size and shape measures between regions and between researchers. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, 61(2), 81-103. https://doi.org/10.1127/zfg_suppl/2016/0329
• Miles, B., Stokes, C., Vieli, A., & Cox, N. (2013). Rapid, climate-driven changes in outlet glaciers on the Pacific coast of East Antarctica. Nature, 500(7464), 563-566. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12382
• Evans, I., & Cox, N. (2013). Global variations of local asymmetry in glacier altitude: separation of north-south and east-west components. Journal of Glaciology,
• Cox, N. (2012). Careful and critical fitting of power functions and alternatives. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms,
• Cox, N. (2012). Comparison of statistical distributions in geomorphology: a quantile view. Geomorphology,
• Smith, M., Cox, N., & Bracken, L. (2011). Terrestrial laser scanning soil surfaces: a field methodology to examine soil surface roughness and overland flow hydraulics. Hydrological Processes, 25(6), 842-860. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.7871
• Smith, M., Cox, N., & Bracken, L. (2011). Modeling depth distributions of overland flows. Geomorphology, 125(3), 402-413. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2010.10.017
• Bracken (nee Bull), L., Cox, N., & Shannon, J. (2008). The relationship between rainfall inputs and flood generation in south-east Spain. Hydrological Processes, 22(5), 683-696. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6641
• Cox, N., Warburton, J., Armstrong, A., & Holliday, V. (2008). Fitting concentration and load rating curves with generalised linear models. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 33(1), 25-39. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.1523
• Cox, N. (2007). Kernel estimation as a basic tool for geomorphological data analysis. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 32(12), 1902-1912. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.1518
• Cox, N. (2007). Kinds and problems of geomorphological explanation. Geomorphology, 88(1-2), 46-56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.10.009
• Cox, N. (2007). Making it count. The Stata Journal, 7, 117-130
• Cox, N. (2007). Bin smoothing and summary on scatter plots. The Stata Journal, 6,
• Cox, N. (2007). Remainders, selections, sequences, extractions: uses of the modulus. The Stata Journal, 7, 143-145
• Cox, N. (2007). Speaking Stata: Turning over a new leaf. The Stata Journal, 7(3), 413-433
• Ansell, T., Jones, P., Allan, R., Lister, D., Parker, D., Brunet, M., …Xoplaki, E. (2007). Daily mean sea level pressure reconstructions for the European-North Atlantic region for the period 1850-2003. Journal of Climate, 19, 2717-2742
• Cox, N. (2006). Assessing agreement of measurements and predictions in geomorphology. Geomorphology, 76(3-4), 332-346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2005.12.001
• Stichen, T., & Cox, N. (2006). Concordance correlation coefficient and associated measurement, tests and graphs. The Stata Journal, 6(2),
• Cox, N. (2006). Stata tip 36 : which observations?. The Stata Journal, 6(3), 430-432
• Cox, N. (2006). Quantile plots, generalized. The Stata Journal, 6,
• Cox, N. (2006). Sweet sixteen: Hexadecimal formats and precision problems. The Stata Journal, 6, 282-283
• Cox, N. (2006). Time of day. The Stata Journal, 6, 124-137
• Cox, N. (2006). May the source be with you. The Stata Journal, 6, 149-150
• Cox, N. (2006). Graphs for all seasons. The Stata Journal, 6, 397-419
• Cox, N. (2006). In praise of trigonometric predictors. The Stata Journal, 6, 561-579
• Cox, N. (2006). In a list or out?. The Stata Journal, 6, 593-595
• Royston, P., & Cox, N. (2005). A multivariable scatterplot smoother. The Stata Journal, 5(3), 405-412
• Bentley, M., Hodgson, D., Smith, J., & Cox, N. (2005). Relative sea level curves for the South Shetland Islands and Marguerite Bay, Antarctic Peninsula. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24(10-11), 1203-1216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2004.10.004
• Cox, N. (2005). Distribution function plots. The Stata Journal, 5(3), 470-470
• Cox, N. (2005). Stata tip 24 : Axis labels on two or more levels. The Stata Journal, 5(3), 469-469
• Cox, N. (2005). Depending on conditions: a tutorial on the cond() function. The Stata Journal, 5, 413-420
• Cox, N. (2005). The protean quantile plot. The Stata Journal, 5, 442-460
• Steichen, T., & Cox, N. (2005). Concordance correlation coefficient and associated measures, tests and graphs. The Stata Journal, 5(3), 471-471
• Cox, N. (2005). Classifying data points on scatter plots
• Evans, I., & Cox, N. (2005). Renaming variables: multiply and ststematically. Journal of Glaciology, 51, 469-482
• Newton, H., & Cox, N. (2005). Editorial announcements. The Stata Journal, 5(3),
• Cox, N. (2005). Suggestions on Stata programming style. The Stata Journal, 560-566
• Cox, N. (2005). A brief history of Stata's first twenty years. The Stata Journal, 5, 2-18
• Sasieni, P., Royston, P., & Cox, N. (2005). Symmetric nearest neighbor linear smoothers. The Stata Journal, 5(2),
• Cox, N. (2005). Quantile plots, generalized. The Stata Journal, 5(3), 470-470
• Cox, N. (2005). Smoothing in various directions. The Stata Journal, 574-593
• Cox, N. (2005). Numbers of present and missing values
• Cox, N. (2005). The arrows of outrageous fortune. The Stata Journal, 5, 282-284
• Cox, N. (2005). Filling in the gaps. The Stata Journal, 5, 135-136
• Cox, N. (2005). Density probability plots. The Stata Journal, 5, 259-273
• Cox, N. (2005). Sampling without replacement: absolute sample sizes and keeping all observations. The Stata Journal, 5,
• Bentley, M., Hodgson, D., Smith, J., & Cox, N. (2005). Preliminary relative sea level curves for the South Shetlands and Marguerite Bay regions, Antarctic Peninsula. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24, 1203-1216
• Cox, N. (2004). Graphing agreement and disagreement. The Stata Journal, 4, 329-349
• Cox, N. (2004). Graphing categorical and compositional data. The Stata Journal, 4, 190-215
• Cox, N. (2004). Graphing model diagnostics. The Stata Journal, 4, 449-475
• Cox, N. (2004). Function graphs on the fly. The Stata Journal, 4, 488-489
• Cox, N. (2004). Tuning the plot region aspect ratio. The Stata Journal, 4, 357-358
• Cox, N. (2004). Following special sequences. The Stata Journal, 4,
• Donoghue, D., Watt, P., Cox, N., Dunford, R., Wilson, J., Stables, S., & Smith, S. (2004). An evaluation of the use of satellite data for monitoring early development of young Sitka spruce plantation forest growth. Forestry, 77(5), 383-396. https://doi.org/10.1093/forestry/77.5.383
• Cox, N. (2004). Quantile plots, generalized. The Stata Journal, 4,
• Cox, N. (2004). Graphing distributions. The Stata Journal, 4, 66-88
• Cox, N. (2004). Binomial smoothing plot. The Stata Journal, 4, 490-490
• Cox, N. (2004). Inserting awkward characters in the plot. The Stata Journal, 4, 95-96
• Smeeton, N., & Cox, N. (2003). Do-it-yourself shuffling and the number of runs under randomness. The Stata Journal, 3(3), 270-277
• Cox, N. (2003). Problems with tables, Part II. The Stata Journal, 3(4), 420-439
• Cox, N. (2003). Problems with tables, Part I. The Stata Journal, 3, 309-324
• Newton, H., & Cox, N. (2003). A special issue of the Stata Journal. The Stata Journal, 3(4), 327-327
• Cox, N. (2003). Buildings with floors and ceilings. The Stata Journal, 3, 446-447
• Newton, H., & Cox, N. (2003). The Stata journal so far: editors' report. The Stata Journal, 3, 105-108
• Cox, N. (2003). Problems with lists. The Stata Journal, 3, 185-202
• Cox, N. (2003). Numbers of present and missing values. The Stata Journal, 3(4), 449-449
• Newton, H., & Cox, N. (2003). Introducing Stata tips. The Stata Journal, 3(4), 328-328
• Cox, N. (2003). Tabulation of modes. The Stata Journal, 3,
• Cox, N. (2003). Distribution function plots. The Stata Journal, 3,
• Cox, N., & Kohler, U. (2003). On structure and shape: the case of multiple responses. The Stata Journal, 3, 81-99
• Cox, N. (2002). How to face lists with fortitude. The Stata Journal, 2, 202-222
• Steiched, T., & Cox, N. (2002). A note on the concordance correlation coefficient. The Stata Journal, 2, 183-189
• Cox, N. (2002). On getting functions to do the work. The Stata Journal, 2, 411-427
• Cox, N. (2002). On numbers and strings. The Stata Journal, 2, 314-329
• Cox, N. (2002). How to move step by step. The Stata Journal, 2, 86-102
• Jenkins, S., & Cox, N. (2001). Renaming variables: changing suffixes
• Cox, N. (2001). Dropping variables or observations with missing values
• Cox, N. (2001). Plots, generalised: update to Stata 7.0
• Cox, N. (2001). Sampling without replacement: absolute sample sizes and keeping all observations
• Holden, J., Burt, T., & Cox, N. (2001). Macroporosity and infiltration in blanket peat: the implications of tension disc infiltrometer measurements. Hydrological Processes, 15(2), 289-303. https://doi.org/10.1002/hyp.93
• Cox, N. (2001). Quantitative geography: Perspectives on spatial data analysis. European Urban and Regional Studies, 8(1), 93-95
• Cox, N. (2001). How to repeat yourself without going mad. The Stata Journal, 1, 84-95
• Evans, I., & Cox, N. (1995). The form of glacial cirques in the English Lake District, Cumbria. Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, 39, 175-202