Publisher Summary This chapter reviews cluster analysis and related topics or the formal
study of classification schemata, whereby objects are grouped, or clustered, according to
measured or perceived intrinsic characteristics. The objective of a cluster analysis is to
uncover natural groupings, or types, to prod one's creativity and ingenuity, and initiate
hypotheses about the phenomenon being studied. Cluster analysis has a heuristic nature
that encourages the exploration of data. Taxonomists, social scientists, psychologists …