Clustering objects on subsets of attributes (with discussion)

A new procedure is proposed for clustering attribute value data. When used in conjunction with conventional distance-based clustering algorithms this procedure encourages those algorithms to detect automatically subgroups of objects that preferentially cluster on "subsets" of the attribute variables rather than on all of them simultaneously. The relevant attribute subsets for each individual cluster can be different and partially (or completely) overlap with those of other clusters. Enhancements for increasing sensitivity for detecting especially low cardinality groups clustering on a small subset of variables are discussed. Applications in different domains, including gene expression arrays, are presented. Copyright 2004 Royal Statistical Society.