Various methods of determining the number of clusters in cluster analysis

Tomáš LÖSTER, Faculty of informatics and statistics, University of Economic in Prag, Czech Republic

Pages: 47 – 59

Abstract

In the current specialised literature, there are many methods to determine the optimal number of clusters. A common method which is often mentioned in literature and used in practice lies in determining the number of clusters on the basis of the graph – the dendrogram. However, it is a quite subjective matter, thus it is recommended to use one of the coefficients for determining the number of clusters. There is a large number of such coefficients and there is no clear rule for the use of these coefficients. The aim of this article is to show the selected possibilities of determining the number of clusters under various conditions in a stable hierarchical clustering.

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