Comparisons of Some Graphical Methods for Exploratory Multivariate Data Analysis

Abstract

Kleiner and Hartigan (1981) introduced trees and castles (graphical techniques for representing multidimensional data) in which the variables are assigned to components of the display on the basis of hierarchical clustering. An experiment was performed to assess the efficacy of trees and castles in discrimination. The graphs were compared to two types of histograms: one with variables assigned randomly, the other with variables assigned according to hierarchical clustering. Trees tended to give the best results.

Key Words:

• Graphical techniques
• Exploratory analysis
• Multivariate analysis
• Trees
• Castles