A Systemic Framework for the Field of Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery

This paper proposes a systemic framework that attempts to define the domain and major areas of data mining and knowledge discovery (DMKD). Grounded theory approach, a qualitative method that inductively develops an understanding of phenomena, is adopted to build the framework. Using a large collection of DMKD literature, including DMKD journals, conference proceedings, syllabuses, and dissertations, this study develops a framework of eight main areas for the field: (1) foundations of DMKD; (2) learning methods & techniques; (3) mining complex data; (4) high-performance & distributed data mining; (5) data mining software & systems; (6) data mining process & project; (7) data mining applications; (8) data mining tasks. The last area is suggested as the central theme of the field