A novel grey fixed weight cluster model based on interval grey numbers
Abstract
Purpose
Nowadays, evaluation objects are becoming more and more complicated. The interval grey numbers can be used to more accurately express the evaluation objects. However, the information distribution of interval grey numbers is not balanced. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the central-point triangular whitenization weight function to solve the clustering process of this kind of numbers.
Design/methodology/approach
A new expression of the central-point triangular whitenization weight function is presented in this paper, in terms of the grey cluster problem based on interval grey numbers. By establishing the integral mean value function on the set of interval grey numbers, the application range of grey clustering model is extended to the interval grey number category, and, in this way, the grey fixed weight cluster model based on interval grey numbers is obtained.
Findings
The model is verified by a case which reveals a high distinguishability, validity and practicability.
Practical implications
This model can be used in many fields, such as agriculture, economy, geology and medical science, and provides a feasible method for evaluation schemes in performance evaluation, scheme selection, risk evaluation and so on.
Originality/value
The central-point triangular whitenization weight function is introduced. The method reflects the thought “make full use of the information” in grey system theory and further enriches the system of grey clustering theory as well as expands the application scope of the grey clustering method.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to anonymous referees for their helpful and constructive comments on this paper. This work was supported by Funding from Jiangsu Innovation Program for Graduate Education (KYZZ15_0095) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities. The authors would also like to acknowledge the support provided by the State Scholarship Fund of China (201606833039), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71071077, 71371098, 71503103) and the Key Project of Philosophy and Social Science Research Base in Colleges and Universities in Jiangsu Province of China (2012JDXM005).
Citation
Ye, J. and Dang, Y. (2017), "A novel grey fixed weight cluster model based on interval grey numbers", Grey Systems: Theory and Application, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 156-167. https://doi.org/10.1108/GS-10-2016-0040
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited