Machine Learning with R Cookbook - Second Edition

How it works...

In this recipe, we demonstrate how to validate clusters. To validate a clustering method, we often employ two techniques: intercluster distance and intracluster distance. In these techniques, the higher the intercluster distance, the better it is, and the lower the intracluster distance, the better it is. In order to calculate related statistics, we can apply cluster.stat from the fpc package on the fitted clustering object.

From the output, the within.cluster.ss measurement stands for the within clusters sum of squares, and avg.silwidth represents the average silhouette width. The within.cluster.ss measurement shows how closely related objects are in clusters; the smaller the value, the more closely related objects are within ...