Hierarchical Clustering Ensemble with Different Linkage Methods

Clustering ensemble has become a preferred technique in recent years due to the high clustering performance it provides. In this study, a new approach called Link-based Hierarchical Clustering Ensemble (LHCE) is proposed. In the proposed approach, the ensemble members perform hierarchical clustering using different linkage methods and then make joint decisions with majority voting. Linkage methods used in this study are single linkage, complete linkage, average linkage, centroid linkage, Ward method, neighbor joining and adjusted complete linkage. In this study, hierarchical clustering ensembles with different sizes were also investigated and compared with each other. In the experimental studies, hierarchical clustering ensembles were applied on 8 different datasets and better results were obtained rather than a single clustering algorithm