Real-World Data Mining: Applied Business Analytics and Decision Making

Acknowledgments

Without a doubt, we are living in the age of data mining and Big Data analytics. Because of their popularity (and perhaps a little bit of hype), everybody is talking about data mining and Big Data analytics, often in different scope and contexts, using diverse terminology. The main goal of this book is to explain the language of analytics and data mining in a comprehensive yet not-too-technical way. If I have, at least partially, succeeded in achieving this goal, it is because of the direct and indirect contributions of a number of people.

I want to thank my colleagues and my students for providing me with the broader perspective toward analytics that I needed to write this book in a holistic manner. As is the case for most academics, ...