In centroid-based clustering, which step assigns each point to the nearest centroid based on a distance measure?

• A. Recalculation
• B. Initialization
• C. Euclidean distance
• D. Allocation

Answer: (D)

Allocation is the step where each data point is assigned to the cluster whose centroid is closest according to the chosen distance metric. In centroid-based clustering like k-means, the process alternates between assigning points to the nearest centroid and recalculating centroids based on current assignments. The distance measure (often Euclidean distance) decides which centroid a point is closest to, and that decision is executed during the allocation step. Recalculation updates the centroid positions after assignments, initialization chooses the starting centroids, and Euclidean distance is a metric used to judge proximity rather than an actionable step.