What Is Data Mining?
Data mining, as we use the term, is the exploration and analysis of large quantities of data in order to discover meaningful patterns and rules. We assume that the goal of data mining is to allow a corporation to improve its marketing, sales, and customer support operations through a better understanding of its customers. Keep in mind, however, that the data mining techniques and tools described here are equally applicable in fields ranging from law enforcement to radio astronomy, medicine, and industrial process control. In fact, hardly any of the data mining algorithms were first invented with commercial applications in mind. The commercial data miner employs a grab bag of techniques borrowed from statistics, computer science, and machine learning research. The choice of a particular combination of techniques to apply in a particular situation depends on the nature of the data mining task, the nature of the available data, and the skills and preferences of the data m