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KDice Taxonomic Study Sample #1: Meet your Closest Relatives
Posted By: skrumgaer at 9:20 AM, Thursday January 29, 2009 EST
What follows is a dendrogram, or family tree, of a sample of 100 kdicers. What it intends to show is relatedness of players to each other. For any two players, the highest value of "h", or height, between them, is a measure of dissimilarity between the two. If you find yourself in the tree, offer comments on the similarities or difference between you and your "relatives".

This particular sample of 100 players is hemidemiskrumic, meaning, four equally spaced groups of 25 players spanning skrum's group (page 56 on the leaderboard) and the top group (page 1). The other intervening groups are page 37 and page 19.

From your comments and my analysis I will try to come up with a comprehensive taxonomic system for the classification of kdicers.


[Update 29 January 2009]

The stat work for this analysis was done by an online website, the official citation of is:
Wessa, P., (2008), Hierarchical Clustering (v1.0.2) in Free Statistics Software (v1.1.23-r3), Office for Research Development and Education, URL http://www.wessa.net/rwasp_hierarchicalclustering.wasp/

The Ward method was used because it minimizes variance, which is the same as saying it uses as much of the information as possible. I used the raw percentage data for first through seventh place finishes to compute these results. Since in theory we have only six independent variables, I should need to use only six of the seven levels of finishes. So I ran the data with seventh place omitted. Some of the branches got moved around, including those belonging to MadHat_Sam, moondust, and fiero600. I also did a run with fourth place, instead of seventh place, removed. In theory the results should be the same no matter which place was removed, but such did not turn out to be the case. There is a greater variance in fourth place finishes than seventh place. Though fourth place makes the least contribution to overall kdice score, it can be argued that two players who have significantly different percentages for fourth, though their other percentages show similar shapes, have different playing styles and should be classified as different.

One source of error in the data is the truncation of the percentages by Ryan. This leads to a range in percentage sums from 95% to 100% for all seven places. To correct for this, I did a run with all seven places, but normalized by player percentage sum. This supposedly minor adjustment rearranged many of the minor branches of the trees, but left the leaf pairings undisturbed. Conclusion: the data must be normalized.

[end 29 January update]

Run with all seven places of finish, unnormalized:

--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 100 members at h = 1.39]
|--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 6 members at h = 0.371]
| |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.238]
| | |--leaf "boilerjon"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.169]
| | |--leaf "pulver toast man"
| | `--leaf "jimmcguinn"
| `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.323]
| |--leaf "YevgenyBk"
| `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.199]
| |--leaf "hjdfgeteyr"
| `--leaf "jim2674"
`--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 94 members at h = 1.29]
|--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 41 members at h = 0.631]
| |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 13 members at h = 0.44]
| | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.197]
| | | |--leaf "fiero600"
| | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.119]
| | | |--leaf "jurlyk"
| | | `--leaf "Pharao"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 10 members at h = 0.226]
| | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 4 members at h = 0.129]
| | | |--leaf "komando80"
| | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.0697]
| | | |--leaf "Akila"
| | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0424]
| | | |--leaf "mmmboobies"
| | | `--leaf "mangoo"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 6 members at h = 0.199]
| | |--leaf "aardvarks"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 5 members at h = 0.143]
| | |--leaf "Pifi"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 4 members at h = 0.103]
| | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0648]
| | | |--leaf "brisk"
| | | `--leaf "skrumgaer"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0671]
| | |--leaf "lala123456"
| | `--leaf "Mirabilis"
| `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 28 members at h = 0.544]
| |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 11 members at h = 0.272]
| | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 5 members at h = 0.128]
| | | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.0556]
| | | | |--leaf "fcuku"
| | | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0436]
| | | | |--leaf "Gdott"
| | | | `--leaf "Dr Leech"
| | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0632]
| | | |--leaf "beyazguvercinus"
| | | `--leaf "GG.Schönebörger"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 6 members at h = 0.136]
| | |--leaf "eurasianbro"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 5 members at h = 0.127]
| | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.0648]
| | | |--leaf "MsCat"
| | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.049]
| | | |--leaf "ji-jo"
| | | `--leaf "Luin"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0825]
| | |--leaf "mr Kruezfeld"
| | `--leaf "Moroccan Jasmine"
| `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 17 members at h = 0.418]
| |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 9 members at h = 0.179]
| | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.106]
| | | |--leaf "Shevar"
| | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0624]
| | | |--leaf "lesplaydices"
| | | `--leaf "jpc4p"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 6 members at h = 0.145]
| | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0361]
| | | |--leaf "cnkcnk"
| | | `--leaf "Raubritter"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 4 members at h = 0.0704]
| | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.04]
| | | |--leaf "pityu"
| | | `--leaf "Shondven"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.049]
| | |--leaf "chaiNblade"
| | `--leaf "maurum"
| `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 8 members at h = 0.201]
| |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 5 members at h = 0.155]
| | |--leaf "matt 1234"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 4 members at h = 0.11]
| | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0436]
| | | |--leaf "PsykomanT"
| | | `--leaf "IhlieDaily"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0557]
| | |--leaf "GreGGWar"
| | `--leaf "ZOUILLE95850"
| `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.172]
| |--leaf "timmm"
| `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.107]
| |--leaf "Friedz"
| `--leaf "itrecal"
`--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 53 members at h = 0.998]
|--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 45 members at h = 0.59]
| |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 13 members at h = 0.329]
| | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 7 members at h = 0.152]
| | | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 4 members at h = 0.0777]
| | | | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0412]
| | | | | |--leaf "Orlafede"
| | | | | `--leaf "miki00"
| | | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.051]
| | | | |--leaf "aurian7"
| | | | `--leaf "MudDobber"
| | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.109]
| | | |--leaf "Albert C"
| | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0787]
| | | |--leaf "hatty"
| | | `--leaf "PJDev"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 6 members at h = 0.160]
| | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 4 members at h = 0.102]
| | | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.064]
| | | | |--leaf "topare"
| | | | `--leaf "The Chode"
| | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0781]
| | | |--leaf "cwwyatt"
| | | `--leaf "goJoin.com"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.111]
| | |--leaf "Big Jumblies"
| | `--leaf "Revilo"
| `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 32 members at h = 0.415]
| |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 16 members at h = 0.239]
| | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.0864]
| | | |--leaf "Tunzy"
| | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0574]
| | | |--leaf "janLOL"
| | | `--leaf "rodelo"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 13 members at h = 0.175]
| | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 9 members at h = 0.107]
| | | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 4 members at h = 0.0864]
| | | | |--leaf "Egle"
| | | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.0533]
| | | | |--leaf "riesi1904"
| | | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0332]
| | | | |--leaf "idnera"
| | | | `--leaf "Matt Braun"
| | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 5 members at h = 0.0911]
| | | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.0432]
| | | | |--leaf "ma1achi"
| | | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.04]
| | | | |--leaf "Who am I ?"
| | | | `--leaf "mrmot"
| | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0566]
| | | |--leaf "potato27"
| | | `--leaf "bsn"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 4 members at h = 0.145]
| | |--leaf "baloo"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.0432]
| | |--leaf "Mitsi the cat"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.04]
| | |--leaf "jbw"
| | `--leaf "nyos"
| `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 16 members at h = 0.279]
| |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 10 members at h = 0.171]
| | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.0867]
| | | |--leaf "last place"
| | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.06]
| | | |--leaf "fatboy98"
| | | `--leaf "gereffi"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 7 members at h = 0.0942]
| | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 4 members at h = 0.0525]
| | | |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.03]
| | | | |--leaf "Leek Step"
| | | | `--leaf "Takadade"
| | | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0361]
| | | |--leaf "Pat Whalen"
| | | `--leaf "1HAPPYBOY"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.0653]
| | |--leaf "shadolin"
| | `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0436]
| | |--leaf "habit1"
| | `--leaf "Mr.-T"
| `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 6 members at h = 0.255]
| |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.052]
| | |--leaf "MadHat_Sam"
| | `--leaf "eeeekekekeke"
| `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 4 members at h = 0.135]
| |--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.04]
| | |--leaf "Easy A"
| | `--leaf "Art54"
| `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0707]
| |--leaf "ACG"
| `--leaf "Vinter"
`--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 8 members at h = 0.735]
|--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.396]
| |--leaf "smumustang"
| `--leaf "Zete02"
`--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 6 members at h = 0.401]
|--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.159]
| |--leaf "moondust"
| `--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.107]
| |--leaf "ropat"
| `--leaf "arwesome"
`--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 3 members at h = 0.268]
|--leaf "yay"
`--[dendrogram w/ 2 branches and 2 members at h = 0.0927]
|--leaf "gawron"
`--leaf "ImagoDei"

« First ‹ Previous Replies 21 - 24 of 24
The Admiral wrote
at 11:05 PM, Tuesday February 24, 2009 EST
Skrum, how do I determine my "leaf", or even my h value?

Or if it's easier just to do than explain, where do I fall?
The Admiral wrote
at 11:06 PM, Tuesday February 24, 2009 EST
Skrum, how do I determine where I fall on the list? Or my h value?

Or if it's just easier to do than explain, where do I fall?

(Sorry if this is a repost)
The Admiral wrote
at 11:08 PM, Tuesday February 24, 2009 EST
Skrum, how do I determine my h value, or which leaf I'm closest to?

Or, if it's easier for you just to figure out than to explain, where do I fall?
The Admiral wrote
at 11:08 PM, Tuesday February 24, 2009 EST
What gives? Why can't I post?
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