A shortest-route approach for optimum aggregation of data with an application to income data (Q1085053)

This paper addresses the problem of grouping a large volume of discrete data into a given number of groups. The algorithm is based on the well- known shortest path algorithm. It handles different criteria for minimizing the loss of information which might result during the process of grouping. The given problem is transformed into a directed graph and it then looks for a shortest path with a given number of edges. The algorithm is illustrated through an example of five data items. It has also been coded in Pascal and some test results are presented.