METHOD Subcommand (CLUSTER command)
METHOD
specifies
one or more clustering methods.
- If the
METHOD
subcommand is omitted or included without specifications, the method of average linkage between groups is used. - Only one
METHOD
subcommand can be used, but more than one method can be specified on it. - When the number of items is large,
CENTROID
andMEDIAN
require significantly more CPU time than other methods.
BAVERAGE. Average linkage
between groups (UPGMA). BAVERAGE
is the default and can also be requested with keyword DEFAULT
.
WAVERAGE. Average linkage within groups.
SINGLE. Single linkage or nearest neighbor.
COMPLETE. Complete linkage or furthest neighbor.
CENTROID. Centroid clustering (UPGMC). Squared Euclidean distances are commonly used with this method.
MEDIAN. Median clustering (WPGMC). Squared Euclidean distances are commonly used with this method.
WARD. Ward’s method. Squared Euclidean distances are commonly used with this method.
Example
CLUSTER V1 V2 V3
/METHOD=SINGLE COMPLETE WARDS.
- This example clusters cases based on their values for the variables V1, V2, and V3 and uses three clustering methods: single linkage, complete linkage, and Ward’s method.