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Hierarchical Clustering in Unsupervised Learning

Hierarchical clustering is an unsupervised learning method that builds hierarchies of clusters. It does not require specifying the number of clusters in advance. There are two main types: agglomerative starts with each point as a cluster and merges closest clusters until one remains, while divisive starts with all points in one cluster and splits into smaller clusters. The choice of distance metric and visualizing dendrograms are important.

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Qwert Uiop
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24 views

Hierarchical Clustering in Unsupervised Learning

Hierarchical clustering is an unsupervised learning method that builds hierarchies of clusters. It does not require specifying the number of clusters in advance. There are two main types: agglomerative starts with each point as a cluster and merges closest clusters until one remains, while divisive starts with all points in one cluster and splits into smaller clusters. The choice of distance metric and visualizing dendrograms are important.

Uploaded by

Qwert Uiop
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Hierarchical Clustering In Unsupervised

Learning

SlideMake.com
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.

1
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.

2
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.

3
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.

4
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.

5
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.

6
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.

7
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.

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