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The Equivalence of Three Statistical Packages for Performing Hierarchical Cluster Analysis

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

Roger Blashfield
Roger Blashfield*
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
*
Requests for reprints should be sent to Roger Blashfield, Department of Psychiatry, University of Florida, Box J-256, JH MC, Gainesville, Florida 32610.
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Abstract

Three different software programs which contain hierarchical agglomerative cluster analysis procedures were shown to generate different solutions on the same data set using apparently the same options. The basis for the differences in the solutions was the formulae used to calculate Euclidean distance. Users of statistical software were warned of terminological confusion concerning cluster analysis.

Type
Notes And Comments
Information
Psychometrika , Volume 42 , Issue 3 , September 1977 , pp. 429 - 431
Copyright
Copyright © 1977 The Psychometric Society

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Footnotes

This research was supported by a National Science Foundation grant (DCR#74-20007) entitled “A Consumer Report on Cluster Analysis Software.” I wish to thank the authors of the three programs for their helpful comments on the paper.

References

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