Omega: A General Formulation of the Rand Index of Cluster Recovery Suitable for Non-disjoint Solutions

Linda M. Collins, Clyde W. Dent

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Cluster recovery indices are more important than ever, because of the necessity for comparing the large number of clustering procedures available today. Of the cluster recovery indices prominent in contemporary literature, the Hubert and Arabie (1985) adjustment to the Rand index (1971) has been demonstrated to have the most desirable properties (Milligan & Cooper, 1986). However, use of the Hubert and Arabie adjustment to the Rand index is limited to cluster solutions involving non-overlapping, or disjoint, clusters. The present paper introduces a generalization of the Hubert and Arabie adjusted Rand index. This generalization, called the Omega index, can be applied to situations where both, one, or neither of the solutions being compared is non-disjoint. In the special case where both solutions are disjoint, the Omega index is equivalent to the Hubert and Arabie adjusted Rand index.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)231-242
Number of pages12
JournalMultivariate Behavioral Research
Volume23
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1988

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Statistics and Probability
  • Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
  • Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)

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