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How many clusters exist? Answer via maximum clustering similarity implemented in R

How many clusters exist? Answer via maximum clustering similarity implemented in R Finding the number of clusters in a data set is considered as one of the fundamental problems in cluster analysis. This paper integrates maximum clustering similarity (MCS), for finding the optimal number of clusters, into R statistical software through the package MCSim. The similarity between the two clustering methods is calculated at the same number of clusters, using Rand [Objective criteria for the evaluation of clustering methods. J Am Stat Assoc. 1971;66:846–850.] and Jaccard [The distribution of the flora of the alpine zone. New Phytologist. 1912;11:37–50.] indices, corrected for chance agreement. The number of clusters at which the index attains its maximum with most frequency is a candidate for the optimal number of clusters. Unlike other criteria, MCS can be used with circular data. Seven clustering algorithms, existing in R, are implemented in MCSim. A graph of the number of clusters vs. clusters similarity using corrected similarity indices is produced. Values of the similarity indices and a clustering tree (dendrogram) are produced. Several examples including simulated, real, and circular data sets are presented to show how MCSim successfully works in practice. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Biostatistics & Epidemiology Taylor & Francis

How many clusters exist? Answer via maximum clustering similarity implemented in R

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How many clusters exist? Answer via maximum clustering similarity implemented in R

Abstract

Finding the number of clusters in a data set is considered as one of the fundamental problems in cluster analysis. This paper integrates maximum clustering similarity (MCS), for finding the optimal number of clusters, into R statistical software through the package MCSim. The similarity between the two clustering methods is calculated at the same number of clusters, using Rand [Objective criteria for the evaluation of clustering methods. J Am Stat Assoc. 1971;66:846–850.] and Jaccard...
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Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Copyright
© 2019 International Biometric Society – Chinese Region
ISSN
2470-9379
eISSN
2470-9360
DOI
10.1080/24709360.2019.1615770
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Finding the number of clusters in a data set is considered as one of the fundamental problems in cluster analysis. This paper integrates maximum clustering similarity (MCS), for finding the optimal number of clusters, into R statistical software through the package MCSim. The similarity between the two clustering methods is calculated at the same number of clusters, using Rand [Objective criteria for the evaluation of clustering methods. J Am Stat Assoc. 1971;66:846–850.] and Jaccard [The distribution of the flora of the alpine zone. New Phytologist. 1912;11:37–50.] indices, corrected for chance agreement. The number of clusters at which the index attains its maximum with most frequency is a candidate for the optimal number of clusters. Unlike other criteria, MCS can be used with circular data. Seven clustering algorithms, existing in R, are implemented in MCSim. A graph of the number of clusters vs. clusters similarity using corrected similarity indices is produced. Values of the similarity indices and a clustering tree (dendrogram) are produced. Several examples including simulated, real, and circular data sets are presented to show how MCSim successfully works in practice.

Journal

Biostatistics & Epidemiology – Taylor & Francis

Published: Jan 1, 2019

Keywords: Similarity index; clustering algorithm; circular data; correction for chance agreement; number of clusters

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