A Method to Predict the Number of Clusters

The problem of determining the number of clusters, K. is the main objective of this study. Attention is focused on the use of Rand(1971)'s $C_{k}$ statistic with some agglomerative clustering algorithms(ACA) defined in the ($\beta$, $\pi$) plane in predicting the number of clusters within the given set of data. The (k, $C_{k}$) plots for k=1, 2, …, N are explored by a Monte Carlo study. Based on its performance, the use of $C_{k}$ with the pair of ACA, (-.5, .75) and (-.25, .0), is recommended for predicting the number of clusters present within a set of data. data.