Making Sense of Data: A Practical Guide to Exploratory Data Analysis and Data Mining

1.2 PROBLEM DEFINITION

The first step is to define the business or scientific problem to be solved and to understand how it will be addressed by the data analysis/data mining project. This step is essential because it will create a focused plan to execute, it will ensure that issues important to the final solution are taken into account, and it will set correct expectations for those both working on the project and having a stake in the project's results. A project will often need the input of many individuals including a specialist in data analysis/data mining, an expert with knowledge of the business problems or subject matter, information technology (IT) support as well as users of the results. The plan should define a timetable for the project as well as providing a comparison of the cost of the project against the potential benefits of a successful deployment.