The term association relates to data mining—applications that look for hidden patterns and previously unknown relationships in a group of data. Association rules aid in identifying spatial associations between objects.

The concept of association rules was first introduced in 1993. The concept both identifies data that is potentially related and establishes the strength, or the confidence, of the association. To achieve this, association involves the establishment of minimum support and minimum confidence. Confidence in sets of data is important because, in a large database, there could be perceived relationships that do not hold up upon additional scrutiny.

Association of data in a data-mining process involves the use of algorithms that establish data relationships in a hierarchical manner, from less to more specific. In the traditional approach to statistical analysis, association is considered a tool in what is called exploratory analysis--a discovery process where associations between data are...