Data Centering: A Review and Evaluation with Reference to Component Analysis

The purpose of the work described in this paper is to review several data centering techniques and to evaluate their effect on the outcome of component analysis. Data centering is defined as a translation of the co-ordinate origin to the centroid of the system. The conditions under which the R– and Q– techniques of component analysis are applicable as alternative strategies are discussed and the techniques are illustrated in a numerical example. A mathematical appendix is included.