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On the Indeterminacy of Resemblance Measures for Binary (Presence/Absence) Data

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Abstract

Many similarity coefficients for binary data are defined as fractions. For certain resemblance measures the denominator may become zero. If the denominator is zero the value of the coefficient is indeterminate. It is shown that the seriousness of the indeterminacy problem differs with the resemblance measures. Following Batagelj and Bren (1995) we remove the indeterminacies by defining appropriate values in critical cases.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychometrics and Research Methodology Group, Leiden University Institute for Psychological Research, Leiden University, Wassenaarseweg 52, P.O. Box 9555, 2300 RB, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Matthijs J. Warrens

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  1. Matthijs J. Warrens
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Correspondence to Matthijs J. Warrens.

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The author would like to thank three anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and valuable suggestions on earlier versions of this article.

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Warrens, M.J. On the Indeterminacy of Resemblance Measures for Binary (Presence/Absence) Data. J Classif 25, 125–136 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00357-008-9006-8

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