Associations among similarity and distance measures for binary data in cluster analysis

The paper focuses on similarity and distance measures for binary data and their application in cluster analysis. There are 66 measures for binary data analyzed in the paper in order to provide a comprehensive insight into the problematics and to create their well-arranged overview. For this purpose, formulas by which they were defined are studied. In the next part of the research, the results of object clustering on generated datasets are compared, and the ability of measures to create similar or identical clustering solutions is evaluated. This is done by using chosen internal and external evaluation criteria, and comparing the assignments of objects into clusters in the process of hierarchical clustering. The paper shows which similarity measures and distance measures for binary data lead to similar or even identical results in hierarchical cluster analysis.