SYSTEM AND METHODS FOR SEARCHING OBJECTS AND PROVIDING ANSWERS TO QUERIES USING ASSOCIATION DATA

System and methods are disclosed for providing answers to search queries, and for searching using association data without requiring keyword matching. Datasets representing objects and their properties are created from unstructured data sources based on natural language analysis methods, and can be used to answer queries about objects or properties of objects. Implementations include general information search engines and embodiments for searching products, services, people, or other objects without knowing the names of such objects, or searching for information about known objects by using either keyword-based queries or natural language queries such as asking questions. System and methods are also provided for creating a structured or semi-structured representation of various unstructured data, in contrast to the conventional term-vector or term-document matrix representation.