Romesburg H.C. Cluster Analysis for Researches

Lifetime Learning Publications, 1984. — 350 p.This book explains and illustrates the most frequently used methods of hierarchical cluster analysis so that they can be understood and practiced by researchers with limited backgrounds in mathematics and statistics.
Widely applicable inresearch, these methods are used to determine clusters of similar objects. For example, ecologists use cluster analysis to determine which plots (i.e. objects) in a forest are similar with respect to the vegetation growing on them; medical researchers use cluster analysis to determine which diseases have similar patterns of incidence; and market researchers use cluster analysis to determine which brands of products the public perceives in a similar way. In all fields of research, there exists this basic and recurring need to determine clusters of objects.
This book will ground you in the basic methods of cluster analysis and guide you in all phases of their use. You will learn how to recognize when you have a research problem that requires cluster analysis, how to decide upon the most appropriate kind of data to collect, how to choose the best method of cluster analysis for your problem, how to obtain a computer program to perform the necessary calculations, and how to interpret the results.A Road Map to This Book
Part I Overview of Cluster Analysis
Basics — 'Ihe Six Steps of Cluster Analysis
General Features of Cluster Analysis
Applications of Cluster Analysis in Retroductive and Hypothetico-Deductive Science
Applications of Cluster Analysis in Making Classifications
Applications of Cluster Analysis in Planning and Engineering
Part II How to Do Cluster Analysis in Depth
Standardizing the Data Matrix
Resemblance Coefficients for Quantitative Attributes
Clustering Methods
Resemblance Coefficients for Qualitative Attributes
Special Resemblance Coefficients for Ordinal-Scaled Attributes
Resemblance Coefficients for Mixtures of Quantitative and Qualitative Attributes
Bypassing the Data Matrix
Matrix Correlation
How to Present the Results of a Cluster Analysis
Part III How to Use Cluster Analysis to Make Classifications
How to Make Classifications
How to Identify Objects into a Classification
Philosophy of Classification and Identification
Part IV Cluster Analysis – Philosophy
The Six Steps of Research
The Roles of Infonnation, Tolerances, and Norms in Research
Framing and Validating in Cluster Analysis
Examples Illustrating How to Frame and Validate Applications of Cluster Analysis
The Orders of Patterns of Similarity
A: Books and Articles on Cluster Analysis and Other Multivariate Methods
B: Computer Programs for Cluster Analysis