Data Mining For Dummies

Description

Delve into your data for the key to success Data mining is quickly becoming integral to creating value and business momentum. The ability to detect unseen patterns hidden in the numbers exhaustively generated by day-to-day operations allows savvy decision-makers to exploit every tool at their disposal in the pursuit of better business. By creating models and testing whether patterns hold up, it is possible to discover new intelligence that could change your business's entire paradigm for a more successful outcome. Data Mining for Dummies shows you why it doesn't take a data scientist to gain this advantage, and empowers average business people to start shaping a process relevant to their business's needs. In this book, you'll learn the hows and whys of mining to the depths of your data, and how to make the case for heavier investment into data mining capabilities. The book explains the details of the knowledge discovery process including:Model creation,... Introduction 1 Part I: Getting Started with Data Mining 5 Chapter 1: Catching the Data-Mining Train 7 Chapter 2: A Day in Your Life as a Data Miner 17 Chapter 3: Teaming Up to Reach Your Goals 49 Part II: Exploring Data-Mining Mantras and Methods 61 Chapter 4: Learning the Laws of Data Mining 63 Chapter 5: Embracing the Data-Mining Process 73 Chapter 6: Planning for Data-Mining Success 89 Chapter 7: Gearing Up with the Right Software 97 Part III: Gathering the Raw Materials 109 Chapter 8: Digging into Your Data 111 Chapter 9: Making New Data 119 Chapter 10: Ferreting Out Public Data Sources 141 Chapter 11: Buying Data 163 Part IV: A Data Miner s Survival Kit 171 Chapter 12: Getting Familiar with Your Data 173 Chapter 13: Dealing in Graphic Detail 195 Chapter 14: Showing Your Data Who s Boss 219 Chapter 15: Your Exciting Career in Modeling 245 Part V: More Data-Mining Methods 273 Chapter 16: Data Mining Using Classic Statistical Methods 275 Chapter 17: Mining Data for Clues 295 Chapter 18: Expanding Your Horizons 307 Part VI: The Part of Tens 319 Chapter 19: Ten Great Resources for Data Miners 321 Chapter 20: Ten Useful Kinds of Analysis That Complement Data Mining 325 Appendix A: Glossary 333 Appendix B: Data-Mining Software Sources 339 Appendix C: Major Data Vendors 349 Appendix D: Sources and Citations 357 Index 361