Analysis is Not Evil
Wednesday, June 28th, 2006 | Justin Bugajski
An important point was brought up in this article in regards to the negative connotation the term “data mining” often has for people. This stems from users’ prior history with data mining tools that were ineffectual, difficult to use, and provided results that were more abstract than actionable.
Linda Koontz, information management issues director at the Government Accountability Office, said some agencies she interviewed about programs that mine data refuse to identity their programs as such.
“Different people sometimes mean different things by the term data mining,” she said. “There isn’t one definition that everyone agrees with. A lot of people feel aversion to using the word ‘data mining’ because they think that casts a negative pall over what they are doing.”
GAO defines data mining as the application of database technology and techniques to uncover hidden patterns and subtle relationships in data and infer rules that allow for the prediction of future results. Koontz said she doesn’t understand why data mining has a negative connotation. “Analysis is not evil,” she said.
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