Basic Concepts in Frequent Pattern Mining

The technique of frequent pattern mining is built upon a number of fundamental ideas. The
analysis is based on transaction databases, which include records or transactions that represent
collections of objects. Items inside these transactions are grouped together as itemsets.
The importance of patterns is greatly influenced by support and confidence measurements.

Techniques for Frequent Pattern Mining

1. Apriori Algorithm
Apriori Algorithm is a foundational method in data mining used for discovering frequent
itemsets and generating association rules. Its significance lies in its ability to identify
relationships between items in large datasets which is particularly valuable in market basket
analysis.
For example, if a grocery store finds that customers who buy bread often also buy butter, it
can use this information to optimise product placement or marketing strategies.

How the Apriori Algorithm Works?

The Apriori Algorithm operates through a systematic process that involves several key
steps:
1. Identifying Frequent Itemsets: The algorithm begins by scanning the dataset to identify
individual items (1-item) and their frequencies. It then establishes a minimum support
threshold, which determines whether an itemset is considered frequent.
2. Creating Possible item group: Once frequent 1-itemgroup(single items) are identified,
the algorithm generates candidate 2-itemgroup by combining frequent items. This
process continues iteratively, forming larger itemsets (k-itemgroup) until no more
frequent itemgroup can be found.
3. Removing Infrequent Item groups: The algorithm employs a pruning technique based
on the Apriori Property, which states that if an itemset is infrequent, all its supersets
must also be infrequent. This significantly reduces the number of combinations that need
to be evaluated.
4. Generating Association Rules: After identifying frequent itemsets, the algorithm
generates association rules that illustrate how items relate to one another, using
metrics like support, confidence, and lift to evaluate the strength of these relationships.

Lets understand the concept of apriori Algorithm with the help of an example. Consider the
following dataset and we will find frequent itemsets and generate association rules for them:

Transactions of a Grocery Shop

Step 1 : Setting the parameters

 Minimum Support Threshold: 50% (item must appear in at least 3/5 transactions). This
threshold is formulated from this formula:
Support(A)=Number of transactions containing itemset ATotal number of transactionsSupport(A)=Total num
ber of transactionsNumber of transactions containing itemset A
 Minimum Confidence Threshold: 70% ( You can change the value of parameters as
per the use case and problem statement ). This threshold is formulated from this formula:
Confidence(X→Y)=Support(X∪Y)Support(X)Confidence(X→Y)=Support(X)Support(X∪Y)
Step 2: Find Frequent 1-Itemsets
Lets count how many transactions include each item in the dataset (calculating the
frequency of each item).

Frequent 1-Itemsets

All items have support% ≥ 50%, so they qualify as frequent 1-itemsets. if any item has
support% < 50%, It will be omitted out from the frequent 1- itemsets.
Step 3: Generate Candidate 2-Itemsets
Combine the frequent 1-itemsets into pairs and calculate their support.
For this use case, we will get 3 item pairs ( bread,butter) , (bread,ilk) and (butter,milk) and
will calculate the support similar to step 2

Candidate 2-Itemsets

Frequent 2-itemsets:
 {Bread, Milk} meet the 50% threshold but {Butter, Milk} and {Bread ,Butter} doesn’t meet
the threshold, so will be committed out.
Step 4: Generate Candidate 3-Itemsets
Combine the frequent 2-itemsets into groups of 3 and calculate their support.
for the triplet, we have only got one case i.e {bread,butter,milk} and we will calculate the
support.
 Candidate 3-Itemsets

Since this does not meet the 50% threshold, there are no frequent 3-itemsets.
Step 5: Generate Association Rules
Now we generate rules from the frequent itemsets and calculate confidence.
Rule 1: If Bread → Butter (if customer buys bread, the customer will buy butter also)
 Support of {Bread, Butter} = 2.
 Support of {Bread} = 4.
 Confidence = 2/4 = 50% (Failed threshold).
Rule 2: If Butter → Bread (if customer buys butter, the customer will buy bread also)
 Support of {Bread, Butter} = 3.
 Support of {Butter} = 3.
 Confidence = 3/3 = 100% (Passes threshold).
Rule 3: If Bread → Milk (if customer buys bread, the customer will buy milk also)
 Support of {Bread, Milk} = 3.
 Support of {Bread} = 4.
 Confidence = 3/4 = 75% (Passes threshold).
The Apriori Algorithm, as demonstrated in the bread-butter example, is widely used in
modern startups like Zomato, Swiggy, and other food delivery platforms. These companies
use it to perform market basket analysis, which helps them identify customer behaviour
patterns and optimise recommendations.
Applications of Apriori Algorithm
Below are some applications of Apriori algorithm used in today’s companies and startups
1. E-commerce: Used to recommend products that are often bought together, like laptop +
laptop bag, increasing sales.
2. Food Delivery Services: Identifies popular combos, such as burger + fries, to
offer combo deals to customers.
3. Streaming Services: Recommends related movies or shows based on what users often
watch together, like action + superhero movies.
4. Financial Services: Analyzes spending habits to suggest personalised offers, such
as credit card deals based on frequent purchases.
5. Travel & Hospitality: Creates travel packages (e.g., flight + hotel) by finding commonly
purchased services together.
6. Health & Fitness: Suggests workout plans or supplements based on users’ past
activities, like protein shakes + workouts.

Applications of Frequent Pattern Mining

Market Basket Analysis

Market basket analysis frequently mines patterns to comprehend consumer buying patterns.
Businesses get knowledge about product associations by recognizing itemsets that commonly
appear together in transactions. This knowledge enables companies to improve
recommendation systems and cross?sell efforts. Retailers can use this program to assist them in
making data?driven decisions that will enhance customer happiness and boost sales.
Web usage mining
Web usage mining is examining user navigation patterns to learn more about how people use
websites. In order to personalize websites and enhance their performance, frequent pattern
mining makes it possible to identify recurrent navigation patterns and session patterns.
Businesses can change content, layout, and navigation to improve user experience and boost
engagement by studying how consumers interact with a website.

Bioinformatics
The identification of relevant DNA patterns in the field of bioinformatics is made possible by
often occurring pattern mining. Researchers can get insights into genetic variants, illness
connections, and drug development by examining big genomic databases for recurrent
patterns. In order to diagnose diseases, practice personalized medicine, and create innovative
therapeutic strategies, frequent pattern mining algorithms help uncover important DNA
sequences and patterns.

Conclusion
In conclusion, frequent pattern mining is a fundamental method for data mining that focuses on
identifying recurrent patterns in sizable datasets. This method finds hidden dependencies and
relationships by recognizing groups of elements that regularly co?occur. The value of frequent
pattern mining is found in its capacity to offer insightful data for data?driven decision?making.