A new clustering method and its application in social networks

In a graph theory model, clustering is the process of division of vertices into groups, with a higher density of edges within groups than between them. In this paper, we introduce a new clustering method for detecting such groups and use it to analyse some classic social networks. The new method has two distinguished features: non-binary hierarchical tree and the feature of overlapping clustering. A non-binary hierarchical tree is much smaller than the binary-trees constructed by most traditional methods and, therefore, it clearly highlights meaningful clusters which significantly reduces further manual efforts for cluster selections. The present method is tested by several bench mark data sets for which the community structure was known beforehand and the results indicate that it is a sensitive and accurate method for extracting community structure from social networks. 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.