What does clustering accomplish?

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Question restatement: The prompt asks what clustering accomplishes, and provides four possible descriptions to evaluate.
Option 1: 'Determines values for an unknown continuous variable behavior or estimated future value.' This sounds more like a task for regression or forecasting, where you predict a numeric outcome, not clustering. Clustering does not directly estimate future values; it groups similar items.
Option 2: 'Determines which things go together.' This captures the essence of clustering: grouping objects based on similarity so that items within a cluster are more alike to each other than to those in other clusters. It directly reflects the objective of unsupervised clustering.
Option 3: 'Segments a heterogeneous population of more homogeneous subgroups.' While this is related to clustering in the sense of creating homogeneous subgroups, the description tightens to a segmentation goal that’s common in clustering applications but phrased more as a consequence. The core function is still to identify groups; this option describes the outcome rather than the mechanism. It’s plausible but not as precise as Option 2.
Option 4: 'Assigns records to one of a predefined set of classes.' This describes classification or supervised learning, where labels/classes are known in advance and the model assigns new records to those predefined classes. Clustering, in contrast, does not rely on predefined labels; it discovers group structure without known categories. Therefore this option does not describe clustering.
In summary, the statements contrast between forecasting (Option 1), the fundamental grouping notion (Option 2), a segmentation-like outcome (Option 3), and supervised labeling (Option 4). The most accurate reflection of clustering’s purpose is to determine which items go together, aligning with the goal of identifying natural groupings based on similarity.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS CIS 3010-16 (93684) Exam Two

What does clustering accomplish?

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