Numerical operations on a relational database

Abstract

The problem is discussed of defining numerical operations on a relational database to accommodate the statistical analyses associated with a bivariate frequency table. An attempt has been made to extend Codd's relational algebra to include simple bivariate statistical operations preserving the closure of Codd's algebra. This extended algebra is applied to bivariate relational data structures needed for real-time automatic statistical quality control of a manufacturing process. Also discussed are some new category-numeric operations on relational tables.