A new AI-based method for clustering survey responses

Objectives Many research projects, particularly in social science research, depend on clustering survey responses. When analyzing survey data, traditional clustering algorithms have several drawbacks. The ability to analyze survey data more effectively has been made possible by recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). The aim of this article is to present a new, AI-based method of clustering survey responses using a Variational Autoencoder (VAE). Material and methods To determine the effectiveness of grouping, the new VAE clustering method was compared with K-means, PCA and k-means, and Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering methods by applying the Silhouette score, the Calinski-Harabasz score, and the Davies-Bouldin score metrics. Results In the case of the Silhouette Score, the developed VAE method obtained a 69% higher average effectiveness of clustering survey responses than the others. For the Calinski-Harabasz Score and the Davies-Bouldin Score, respectively, the VAE method outperformed the other methods by 164% and 111%, respectively. Conclusions The VAE method allowed for the most effective grouping of responses given by respondents. It has made it possible to capture complex relationships and patterns in the data. In addition, the method is suitable for analyzing different types of survey data (continuous, categorical, and mixed data) and is resistant to noise and missing data.