Class SingleLinkage

  • All Implemented Interfaces:
    AgglomerationMethod

    public final class SingleLinkage
    extends Object
    implements AgglomerationMethod
    The "single linkage", "minimum", "shortest distance", or "nearest neighbor" method is a graph-based approach. The distance between two clusters is calculated as the smallest distance between two objects in opposite clusters. This method tends to produce loosely bound large clusters with little internal cohesion. Linear, elongated clusters are formed as opposed to the more usual spherical clusters. This pheonomenon is called chaining. [The data analysis handbook. By Ildiko E. Frank, Roberto Todeschini] This method can cause "chaining" of clusters.
    • Constructor Detail

      • SingleLinkage

        public SingleLinkage()
    • Method Detail

      • computeDissimilarity

        public double computeDissimilarity​(double dik,
                                           double djk,
                                           double dij,
                                           int ci,
                                           int cj,
                                           int ck)
        Description copied from interface: AgglomerationMethod
        Compute the dissimilarity between the newly formed cluster (i,j) and the existing cluster k.
        Specified by:
        computeDissimilarity in interface AgglomerationMethod
        Parameters:
        dik - dissimilarity between clusters i and k
        djk - dissimilarity between clusters j and k
        dij - dissimilarity between clusters i and j
        ci - cardinality of cluster i
        cj - cardinality of cluster j
        ck - cardinality of cluster k
        Returns:
        dissimilarity between cluster (i,j) and cluster k.