data mining

Data mining is the process of searching and analyzing a large batch of raw data in order to identify patterns and extract useful information.

Companies use data mining software to learn more about their customers. It can help them to develop more effective marketing strategies, increase sales, and decrease costs. Data mining relies on effective data collection,?warehousing, and computer processing.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Data mining is the process of analyzing a large batch of information to discern trends and patterns.
• Data mining can be used by corporations for everything from learning about what customers are interested in or want to buy to fraud detection and spam filtering.
• Data mining programs break down patterns and connections in data based on what information users request or provide.
• Social media companies use data mining techniques to commodify their users in order to generate profit.
• This use of data mining has come under criticism lately as users are often unaware of the data mining happening with their personal information, especially when it is used to influence preferences.

How Data Mining Works

Data mining involves exploring and analyzing large blocks of information to glean meaningful patterns and trends. It is used in credit risk management, fraud detection, and spam filtering. It also is a market research tool that helps reveal the sentiment or opinions of a given group of people. The data mining process breaks down into four steps:

• Data is collected and loaded into data warehouses on-site or on a cloud service.
• Business analysts, management teams, and information technology professionals access the data and determine how they want to organize it.
• Custom application software sorts and organizes the data.
• The end user presents the data in an easy-to-share format, such as a graph or table.

Data Warehousing and Mining Software

Data mining programs analyze relationships and patterns in data based on user requests. It organizes information into classes.

For example, a restaurant may want to use data mining to determine which specials it should offer and on what days. The data can be organized into classes based on when customers visit and what they order.

In other cases, data miners find clusters of information based on logical relationships?or look at associations and sequential patterns to draw conclusions about trends in consumer behavior.

Warehousing is an important aspect of data mining. Warehousing is the centralization of an organization's data into one database or program. It allows the organization to spin off segments of data for specific users to analyze and use depending on their needs.