  We compare the statistical properties of structures normal and transverse to
the line of sight which appear in observational data from redshift surveys. We
present a statistic which can quantify this effect in a conceptually different
way from standard analyses of distortions of the power-spectrum or correlation
function. From tests with N-body experiments, we argue that this statistic
represents a new, more direct and potentially powerful diagnostic of the
cosmological density parameter Omega.
