A Simple Approach of Data Mining in Excel

Data mining is a new method of data analysis, especially very large datasets analysis. Nowadays it is becoming more and more popular in data handling. It is a rapidly growing field, whose development is driven by strong research interests as well as urgent practical, social, and economical needs. However, it generally requires much specialty knowledge. It is not easy for people without specialty knowledge to handle very large datasets with data mining. This paper describes an approach of data mining with Excel using the XLMiner add-in. Using this approach, data preparation can be easily accomplished in Excel. Almost every one can use Excel experienced. Therefore, data mining in Excel can be implemented easily, not only by people with specialty knowledge but also by people without specialty knowledge. This paper presents an example of mining association rules to illustrate all the steps of this approach.