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From: saswss@hotellng.unx.sas.com (Warren Sarle)
Subject: Re: Clustering
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Date: Tue, 21 Feb 1995 16:53:23 GMT
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In article <reinhard.10.002A367E@mindspring.com>, reinhard@mindspring.com (Bryan Reinhardt) writes:
|> Theres been some talk about clustering here, and I noticed action in one of
|> Kosko's papers..but what exactly is clustering and where is it applied?  Can
|> anyone tell me?  Is it just another alias for something else?

From the _SAS/STAT User's Guide_:

The purpose of cluster analysis is to place objects into groups or
clusters suggested by the data, not defined a priori, such that objects
in a given cluster tend to be similar to each other in some sense, and
objects in different clusters tend to be dissimilar. Cluster analysis
can also be used for summarizing data rather than for finding "natural"
or "real" clusters; this use of clustering is sometimes called
_dissection_.

Any generalization about cluster analysis must be vague because a vast
number of clustering methods have been developed in several different
fields, with different definitions of clusters and similarity among
objects. The variety of clustering techniques is reflected by the
variety of terms used for cluster analysis:  botryology, classification,
clumping, morphometrics, nosography, nosology, numerical taxonomy,
partitioning, Q-analysis, systematics, taximetrics, taxonorics,
typology, and unsupervised pattern recognition.  Good (1977) has also
suggested aciniformics and agminatics.

-- 

Warren S. Sarle       SAS Institute Inc.   The opinions expressed here
saswss@unx.sas.com    SAS Campus Drive     are mine and not necessarily
(919) 677-8000        Cary, NC 27513, USA  those of SAS Institute.
