data mining
Definition of data mining
: the practice of searching through large amounts of computerized data to find useful patterns or trends
From the M-W Editors
First Known Use of data mining
1968
Financial Definition of DATA MINING
data mining
What It Is
Data mining refers to the systematic software analysis of groups of data in order to uncover previously unknown patterns and relationships.
How It Works
So called because of the manner in which it explores information, data mining is carried out by software applications which employ a variety of statistical and artificial intelligence methods to uncover hidden patterns and relationships among sets of data. For instance, a data mining program might be able to uncover a relationship between high sales volumes and poor weather conditions.
Why It Matters
Data mining software is able to perform complex calculations and analyses on sets of data in a very short time. For this reason, data mining is used by companies in strategic planning.
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