Data mining
It is always prudent to start explaining things with a high-level definition.
Data mining can be explained simply as assembling information concerning a particular topic or belief in an understandable (and further useable) format. Keep in mind though that the information assembled is not the data itself (as with data querying) but information from the data (more on this later in this chapter).
Data mining should also not be confused with analytics, information extraction, or data analysis. Also, it can be manual or by hand, a semi-automatic, or automatic process. When working with new data, it will typically be a manual process that the data scientist will perform. Later, when working with newer versions of the same data (source), it may become automated to some level or degree.
Data mining is the probing carried out by a data scientist to find previously unknown information within the data, such as:
- Patterns, such as groups of data records, known as clusters
- Unusual records, known...
