Association Analysis

This type of analysis determines sets of elements frequently occurring together based on analyzing a collection of repetitive transactions.

In other words, the purpose of this analysis is establishing the following dependencies: if an X set of elements is found in the transaction, it can be concluded that another Y set of elements should also be found. Establishing these dependencies enables finding simple and intuitive rules.

NOTE. For method calculation, selected data must contain at least one attribute and one observation, excluding titles. If data source is:
   - Regular report. Title is the first row in the selected range.
   - Workbook. Titles are series names.
   - Express report, dashboard, data table. Titles are column headers.

Open the Transactions drop-down list and select the table column with transactions data, based on which the analysis is executed.

Open the Objects drop-down list and select the table column with transactions data, based on which the analysis is executed.

Determine advanced settings for the association analysis:

- Minimum Support. Determine the association support level. Support is a combination of sets in a transaction. Select the radio button that determines how this parameter is determined:
- - Percents. The support level is determined in percents. Default value is 10%.
  - Objects. The support level is determined in objects. Default value is 1 object.
- Minimum Size of a Set. Determine the minimum size of association set. For example, a certain product is encountered in the transaction.

TIP. Value of the Minimum Support setting is determined to limit the number of found associations. If the support value is high, the algorithms find associations that are well-known to the analysts or so obvious that there is no reason to execute this analysis. On the other hand, the low support value leads to generating a great number of associations that requires substantial computational resources. However, the majority of interesting associations is found at the low value of the support threshold. Though, too low a support value leads to generating statistically unreasonable associations.

The analysis results can be saved to a file, printed or inserted on the regular report sheet. For details see the Working with Analysis Results section.

If during the analysis warnings occurred, the Warnings additional tab is displayed.