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Analysis is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (384–322 B.C.), though analysis as a formal concept is a relatively recent development.^[1]

The word is a transcription of the ancient Greek ἀνάλυσις (analusis, "a breaking up", from ana- "up, throughout" and lysis "a loosening").^[2]

As a formal concept, the method has variously been ascribed to Alhazen,^[3] René Descartes (Discourse on the Method) and Galileo Galilei. It has also been ascribed to Isaac Newton, in the form of a practical method of physical discovery (which he did not name or formally describe).

Applications[link]

Chemistry[link]

The field of chemistry uses analysis in at least three ways: to identify the components of a particular chemical compound (qualitative analysis), to identify the proportions of components in a mixture (quantitative analysis), and to break down chemical processes and examine chemical reactions between elements of matter. For an example of its use, analysis of the concentration of elements is important in managing a nuclear reactor, so nuclear scientists will analyze neutron activation to develop discrete measurements within vast samples. A matrix can have a considerable effect on the way a chemical analysis is conducted and the quality of its results. Analysis can be done manually or with a device. Chemical analysis is an important element of national security among the major world powers with materials measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) capabilities.

Isotopes[link]

Chemists can use isotope analysis to assist analysts with issues in anthropology, archeology, food chemistry, forensics, geology, and a host of other questions of physical science. Analysts can discern the origins of natural and man-made isotopes in the study of environmental radioactivity.

Business[link]

• Financial statement analysis – the analysis of the accounts and the economic prospects of a firm
• Fundamental analysis – a stock valuation method that uses financial analysis
• Technical analysis – the study of price action in securities markets in order to forecast future prices
• Business analysis – involves identifying the needs and determining the solutions to business problems
• Price analysis – involves the breakdown of a price to a unit figure
• Market analysis – consists of suppliers and customers, and price is determined by the interaction of supply and demand

Computer science[link]

• Requirements analysis – encompasses those tasks that go into determining the needs or conditions to meet for a new or altered product, taking account of the possibly conflicting requirements of the various stakeholders, such as beneficiaries or users.
• Competitive analysis (online algorithm) – shows how online algorithms perform and demonstrates the power of randomization in algorithms
• Lexical analysis – the process of processing an input sequence of characters and producing as output a sequence of symbols
• Object-oriented analysis and design – à la Booch
• Program analysis (computer science) – the process of automatically analyzing the behavior of computer programs
• Semantic analysis (computer science) – a pass by a compiler that adds semantical information to the parse tree and performs certain checks
• Static code analysis – the analysis of computer software that is performed without actually executing programs built from that
• Structured systems analysis and design methodology – à la Yourdon
• Syntax analysis – a process in compilers that recognizes the structure of programming languages, also known as parsing
• Worst-case execution time – determines the longest time that a piece of software can take to run

Economics[link]

• Agroecosystem analysis
• Input-output model if applied to a region, is called Regional Impact Multiplier System
• Principal components analysis – a technique that can be used to simplify a dataset

Engineering[link]

Analysts in the field of engineering look at requirements, structures, mechanisms, systems and dimensions. Electrical engineers analyze systems in electronics. Life cycles and system failures are broken down and studied by engineers. It is also looking at different factors incorporated within the design.

Intelligence[link]

The field of intelligence employs analysts to break down and understand a wide array of questions. Intelligence agencies may use heuristics, inductive and deductive reasoning, social network analysis, dynamic network analysis, link analysis, and brainstorming to sort through problems they face. Military intelligence may explore issues through the use of game theory, Red Teaming, and wargaming. Signals intelligence applies cryptanalysis and frequency analysis to break codes and ciphers. Business intelligence applies theories of competitive intelligence analysis and competitor analysis to resolve questions in the marketplace. Law enforcement intelligence applies a number of theories in crime analysis.

Linguistics[link]

Linguistics began with the analysis of Sanskrit and Tamil; today it looks at individual languages and language in general. It breaks language down and analyzes its component parts: theory, sounds and their meaning, utterance usage, word origins, the history of words, the meaning of words and word combinations, sentence construction, basic construction beyond the sentence level, stylistics, and conversation. It examines the above using statistics and modeling, and semantics. It analyzes language in context of anthropology, biology, evolution, geography, history, neurology, psychology, and sociology. It also takes the applied approach, looking at individual language development and clinical issues.

Literature[link]

Literary theory is the analysis of literature. Some say that literary criticism is a subset of literary theory. The focus can be as diverse as the analysis of Homer or Freud. This is mainly to do with the breaking up of a topic to make it easier to understand.

Mathematics[link]

Mathematical analysis is the study of infinite processes. It is the branch of mathematics that includes calculus. It can be applied in the study of classical concepts of mathematics, such as real numbers, complex variables, trigonometric functions, and algorithms, or of non-classical concepts like constructivism, harmonics, infinity, and vectors.

Music[link]

• Musical analysis – a process attempting to answer the question "How does this music work?"
• Schenkerian analysis

Philosophy[link]

• Philosophical analysis – a general term for the techniques used by philosophers
• Analysis is the name of a prominent journal in philosophy.

Psychotherapy[link]

• Psychoanalysis – seeks to elucidate connections among unconscious components of patients' mental processes
• Transactional analysis

Signal processing[link]

• Finite element analysis – a computer simulation technique used in engineering analysis
• Independent component analysis
• Link quality analysis – the analysis of signal quality
• Path quality analysis

Statistics[link]

In statistics, the term analysis may refer to any method used for data analysis. Among the many such methods, some are:

• Analysis of variance (ANOVA) – a collection of statistical models and their associated procedures which compare means by splitting the overall observed variance into different parts
• Boolean analysis – a method to find deterministic dependencies between variables in a sample, mostly used in exploratory data analysis
• Cluster analysis – techniques for grouping objects into a collection of groups (called clusters), based on some measure of proximity or similarity
• Factor analysis – a method to construct models describing a data set of observed variables in terms of a smaller set of unobserved variables (called factors)
• Meta-analysis – combines the results of several studies that address a set of related research hypotheses
• Multivariate analysis – analysis of data involving several variables, such as by factor analysis, regression analysis, or principal component analysis
• Principal component analysis – transformation of a sample of correlated variables into uncorrelated variables (called principal components), mostly used in exploratory data analysis
• Regression analysis – techniques for analyzing the relationships between several variables in the data
• Scale analysis (statistics) – methods to analyse survey data by scoring responses on a numeric scale
• Sensitivity analysis – the study of how the variation in the output of a model depends on variations in the inputs
• Sequential analysis – evaluation of sampled data as it is collected, until the criterion of a stopping rule is met
• Spatial analysis – the study of entities using geometric or geographic properties
• Time-series analysis – methods that attempt to understand a sequence of data points spaced apart at uniform time intervals

Other[link]

• Aura analysis – a technique in which supporters of the method claim that the body's aura, or energy field is analyzed
• Bowling analysis – a notation summarizing a cricket bowler's performance
• Lithic analysis – the analysis of stone tools using basic scientific techniques
• Protocol analysis – a means for extracting persons' thoughts while they are performing a task

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Analysis

• List of thinking-related topics
• Formal analysis
• Scientific method

References[link]