Interpretation of statistical queries to relational databases

Abstract

A research in progress concerning the problem of extending the logical independence approach to statistical query answering is described. The main ideas and limitations of a system which assists a user in obtaining a statistical table from a relational database by describing only elements that compose the table are discussed. The proposed system assists the user in formulating statistical queries by means of a universal relation interface, i.e., independently from the underlying database structure. To generate the result, an extended relational algebra is needed to process aggregations in queries function; heuristics for the interpretation of queries and their translation in terms of database primitives are the basis of the proposed approach.