Hierarchical Clustering In Unsupervised

Learning

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Introduction to Hierarchical Clustering

Hierarchical clustering is a method of cluster

analysis which seeks to build a hierarchy of
clusters.

It does not require the number of clusters to be

specified in advance.

The two main types of hierarchical clustering

are agglomerative and divisive.

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Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering

Agglomerative clustering starts with each data

point as a separate cluster.

It then merges the closest clusters together until

only one cluster remains.

The merge process is repeated until a desired

number of clusters is obtained.

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Divisive Hierarchical Clustering

Divisive clustering starts with all data points in

one cluster.

It then splits the cluster into smaller clusters

until each data point is in its own cluster.

The split process continues until a desired

number of clusters is obtained.

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Distance Metrics in Hierarchical Clustering

In hierarchical clustering, the choice of distance

metric is crucial.

Common distance metrics include Euclidean

distance, Manhattan distance, and cosine
similarity.

The choice of distance metric can significantly

impact the clustering results.

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Dendrogram Visualization

One of the key outputs of hierarchical clustering

is a dendrogram.

A dendrogram is a tree-like diagram that shows

the order and distances of merges during
clustering.

Dendrograms help visualize the hierarchical

structure of the clusters.

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Determining the Number of Clusters

Hierarchical clustering does not require the

number of clusters to be specified in advance.

The number of clusters can be determined by

visually inspecting the dendrogram.

Alternatively, techniques such as the elbow

method or silhouette score can be used.

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Applications of Hierarchical Clustering

Hierarchical clustering is widely used in various

fields such as biology, finance, and marketing.

It can be used for customer segmentation, gene

expression analysis, and anomaly detection.

Hierarchical clustering is particularly useful

when the underlying data structure is
hierarchical.

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Conclusion

Hierarchical clustering is a powerful

unsupervised learning technique for grouping
data points into clusters.

It offers flexibility in determining the number of

clusters and visualizing the clustering structure.

Understanding the principles and applications

of hierarchical clustering can help in extracting
valuable insights from data.