Hempel's Raven paradox: A positive approach to cluster analysis

A practical conclusion of the Hampel Raven paradox suggests a logical preference for using positive predicates in formulating scientific hypotheses. This led us to outline a new cluster analysis and grouping technique. We define a positive attribute distance index that uses a binary representation of the existence or absence of an attribute value in a given object being observed. The resulting binary string representing an entity is then used to calculate distance to other strings using only the ‘1’ bits. The measure, with a matching grouping technique, simplifies clustering and grouping and yields equivalent or better results, as well as more efficient and compact calculations.