To calculate the consensus score, the features are classified as being stably
selected or not (in selection) or as being in the same consensus cluster or
not (in clustering). In selection, the quantities \(X_w\) and \(X_b\) are
defined as the sum of the selection counts for features that are stably
selected or not, respectively. In clustering, the quantities \(X_w\) and
\(X_b\) are defined as the sum of the co-membership counts for pairs of
items in the same consensus cluster or in different consensus clusters,
respectively.
Conditionally on this classification, and under the assumption that the
selection (or co-membership) probabilities are the same for all features (or
item pairs) in each of these two categories, the quantities \(X_w\) and
\(X_b\) follow binomial distributions with probabilities \(p_w\) and
\(p_b\), respectively.
In the most unstable situation, we suppose that all features (or item pairs)
would have the same probability of being selected (or co-members). The
consensus score is the z statistic from a z test where the null hypothesis is
\(p_w \leq p_b\).
The consensus score increases with stability.