Performing a Cluster Analysis

by | Oct 14, 2021 | commerce

This business case is using a data set and unsupervised method of determining derived information for a client heavily engaged in charity contributions. The client is wanting to determine if there are clear segregation points in terms of amounts contributed over a period of time (ex: one time or every x months) and actual dollar amounts contributed. The client believes this information will help them determine better methods and efficiencies for their marketing campaigns. As the business analyst, you need to provide information from the PVA (contributions) dataset in SAS that will help your client understand this problem/concern. This Word document will be the basis for your responses to the client. Be sure all questions are answered completely and professionally. Do not use abbreviated or incomplete sentences when responding. This is a professional report back to the client. No hand written responses will be accepted.
Please address each question or sets of questions below in detail. Also, provide objective evidence (OE) of each as requested (the graphs that you create with the SAS tool).

  1. Perform a cluster analysis for all the variables that begin with “Gift” (as these variables provide the primary context for this analysis).

a. Provide a Parallel coordinates plot diagram.

b. How many clusters were generated? Why?

c. Which cluster ID had the largest variability? What does this tell the client?

d. Which two of the cluster centroids are closest? What does this tell the client?

  1. Change the model to four-clusters. For the four-cluster solution,

e. Provide the parallel coordinates plot for the four-cluster model.

f. Derive a new Cluster ID variable.

g. How many distinct levels are in the new variable?
h. Create an auto chart of the new cluster variable. What does the -1 category represent? Provide the auto leveling chart.

  1. Change the model to three-clusters. Examine the parallel coordinates plot for the three-cluster solution.

i. Provide the parallel coordinates plot for the three-cluster model.
j. Which cluster gave the most money per donation? What analysis can you provide the client relative to this result?
k. Which cluster donated most frequently? What analysis can you provide the client relative to this result?

Sample Solution

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


This question has been answered

God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

This question has been answered.

Get Answer