Association rules present one of the most versatile techniques for the analysis of binary data, with applications in areas as diverse as retail, bioinformatics, and sociology. In this chapter, the origin of association rules is discussed along with the functions by which association rules are traditionally characterised. Following the formal definition of an association rule, these functions – support, confidence and lift – are defined and various methods of rule generation are presented, spanning 15 years of development. There is some discussion about negations and negative association rules and an analogy between association rules and 2×2 tables is outlined. Pruning methods are discussed, followed by an overview of measures of interestingness. Finally, the post-mining stage of the association rule paradigm is put in the context of the preceding stages of the mining process.
