# Archetypal cases for questionnaires with nominal multiple choice questions

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.05392 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.05392/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 2 of its 10 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 8 Jan 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Probabilistic Archetypal Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1312.7604/) (2013)
- [Finding archetypal patterns for binary questionnaires](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2003.00043/) (2020)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Archetypal analysis serves as an exploratory tool that interprets a collection of observations as convex combinations of pure (extreme) patterns. When these patterns correspond to actual observations within the sample, they are termed archetypoids. For the first time, we propose applying archetypoid analysis to nominal observations, specifically for identifying archetypal cases from questionnaires featuring nominal multiple-choice questions with a single possible answer. This approach can enhance our understanding of a nominal data set, similar to its application in multivariate contexts. We compare this methodology with the use of archetype analysis and probabilistic archetypal analysis and demonstrate the benefits of this methodology using a real-world example: the German credit dataset.