Data mining is the process of using sophisticated statistical techniques to extract and analyze data from large databases to discern patterns and trends that were not previously known. The patterns we find are correlations, but we do not necessarily find causation.

Newspaper headlines often link one activity to another and imply causation, rather than a simple correlation or association. Jon Mueller, a professor at North Central College, suggests when describing a correlation between two variables that there are some acceptable ways to describe this relationship. LO 9-2