1. n. []

A method of cluster analysis in which the distance between every pair of data points is determined and the relative distances displayed on a dendogram. This method is completely accurate but is very CPU intensive when the data set has a large number of data points. For large numbers of data points, the k-means method is usually preferred. This method is sometimes used after the data have first been transformed into their principal components. The method is one possible approach to electrofacies calculations.

See related terms: k-means cluster analysis