Western Governors University (WGU) ITEC2104 C175 Data Management - Foundations Practice Exam

The correct answer is the process known as regression. Regression is a data mining technique specifically used to predict and assign a continuously valued numeric outcome based on one or more input variables. It aims to find the relationship between the dependent variable (what you are trying to predict) and one or more independent variables (which influence the prediction). For instance, regression analysis can be used to forecast sales based on advertising spend, where the sales figure is a continuous value.

In contrast, classification is about categorizing data into predefined groups or classes and is used for discrete outcomes rather than continuously valued ones. Clustering groups similar objects together based on characteristics, but it does not assign numeric values. Association refers to discovering interesting relationships and patterns between different variables in large databases, typically in the form of rules, rather than directly predicting continuous values. Thus, regression is distinct as it specifically deals with predicting numeric values.