Task: Class Definition Understanding (ontology: Sciences/Computer_Science)

Which of the following definitions best describes 'k-means clustering'?

A. A the concept is a data transformation which achieves a class discovery objective, which takes as input data item and builds a hierarchy of clusters. The traditional representation of this hierarchy is a tree (visualized by a dendrogram), with the individual input objects at one end (leaves) and a single cluster containing every object at the other (root).
B. A the concept is a data transformation which achieves a class discovery or partitioning objective, in which an input data object with vector y is assigned to a class label based upon the k closest training data set points to y; where k is the largest value that class label is assigned.
C. A the concept is a data transformation which achieves a class discovery or partitioning objective, which takes as input a collection of objects (represented as points in multidimensional space) and which partitions them into a specified number k of clusters. The algorithm attempts to find the centers of natural clusters in the data. The most common form of the algorithm starts by partitioning the input points into k initial sets, either at random or using some heuristic data. It then calculates the mean point, or centroid, of each set. It constructs a new partition by associating each point with the closest centroid. Then the centroids are recalculated for the new clusters, and the algorithm repeated by alternate applications of these two steps until convergence, which is obtained when the points no longer switch clusters (or alternatively centroids are no longer changed).
D. A data transformation which assesses how the results of a statistical analysis will generalize to an independent data set.

Answer: A the concept is a data transformation which achieves a class discovery or partitioning objective, which takes as input a collection of objects (represented as points in multidimensional space) and which partitions them into a specified number k of clusters. The algorithm attempts to find the centers of natural clusters in the data. The most common form of the algorithm starts by partitioning the input points into k initial sets, either at random or using some heuristic data. It then calculates the mean point, or centroid, of each set. It constructs a new partition by associating each point with the closest centroid. Then the centroids are recalculated for the new clusters, and the algorithm repeated by alternate applications of these two steps until convergence, which is obtained when the points no longer switch clusters (or alternatively centroids are no longer changed).