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Biography
Other usesWiktionary|Analysis|analysis Analysis is the process of breaking a complexity|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 Before Christ|B.C. ), though analysis as a formal concept is a relatively recent development. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/analysis/ Analysis
The word is a transcription of the ancient Greek language|Greek ?????s?? ( analusis , "a breaking up", from ana- "up, throughout" and lysis "a loosening"). http://www.etymonline.com/index.php? term=analysis Online Etymology Dictionary
As a formal concept, the method has variously been ascribed to Alhazen ,MacTutor|id=Al-Haytham|title=Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham 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
Chemistry
See also|Analytical chemistry|List of chemical analysis methodsThe 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 process es and examine chemical reaction s between chemical element|elements of chemical matter|matter . For an example of its use, analysis of the concentration of elements is important in managing a nuclear reactor , so nuclear scientist s will analyze neutron activation analysis|neutron activation to develop discrete measurements within vast samples. A matrix (chemical analysis)|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 analyser|device . Chemical analysis is an important element of national security among the great power|major world powers with Materials MASINT|materials measurement and signature intelligence (MASINT) capabilities.
Isotopes
See also|Isotope analysis|Isotope geochemistryChemists 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
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
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 – ŕ la Booch method|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 – ŕ 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
Agroecosystem analysis
Input-output model if applied to a region, is called RegionalImpact Multiplier System
Principal components analysis – a technique that can be used to simplify a dataset
Engineering
See also|Engineering analysis|Systems analysisAnalysts in the field of engineering look at Requirement analysis|requirements , structural analysis|structures , mechanisms, systems analysis|systems and dimensional analysis|dimensions . Electrical engineering|Electrical engineers analyze system analysis|systems in electronics . Whole-life cost|Life cycles and Accident analysis|system failures are broken down and studied by engineers. It is also looking at different factors incorporated within the design.
Intelligence
See also|Intelligence analysisThe field of intelligence (information gathering)|intelligence employs analysts to break down and understand a wide array of questions. Intelligence agency|Intelligence agencies may use heuristics , inductive reasoning|inductive and deductive reasoning , social network analysis , dynamic network analysis , Social network#Social network analysis|link analysis , and brainstorming to sort through problems they face. Military intelligence may explore issues through the use of game theory , Red Team ing, and military simulation|wargaming . Signals intelligence applies cryptanalysis and frequency analysis to break code (cryptography)|codes and cipher s. Business intelligence applies theories of competitive intelligence|competitive intelligence analysis and competitor analysis to resolve questions in the marketplace . Police|Law enforcement intelligence applies a number of theories in crime analysis .
Linguistics
See also|LinguisticsLinguistics began with the analysis of Ashtadhyayi|Sanskrit and Tolkappiyam|Tamil ; today it looks at individual languages and language in general. It breaks language down and analyzes its component parts: theoretical linguistics|theory , phonology|sounds and their meaning , pragmatics|utterance usage , morphology (linguistics)|word origins , the etymology|history of words , the meaning of lexical semantics|words and phraseology|word combinations , syntax|sentence construction , discourse analysis|basic construction beyond the sentence level , stylistics (linguistics)|stylistics , and conversation analysis|conversation . It examines the above using computational linguistics|statistics and modeling , and semantic analysis (linguistics)|semantics . It analyzes language in context of anthropological linguistics|anthropology , biolinguistics|biology , evolutionary linguistics|evolution , language geography|geography , historical linguistics|history , neurolinguistics|neurology , psycholinguistics|psychology , and sociolinguistics|sociology . It also takes the applied linguistics|applied approach, looking at developmental linguistics|individual language development and clinical linguistics|clinical issues.
Literature
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 analysis (Homer)|Homer or psychoanalytic literary criticism|Freud . This is mainly to do with the breaking up of a topic to make it easier to understand.
Mathematics
Main|Mathematical analysisMathematical 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 mathematics|classical concepts of mathematics, such as real analysis|real numbers , complex analysis|complex variables , Fourier analysis|trigonometric functions , and numerical analysis|algorithms , or of non-classical analysis|non-classical concepts like constructivist analysis|constructivism , harmonic analysis|harmonics , non-standard analysis|infinity , and functional analysis|vectors .
Music
Musical analysis – a process attempting to answer the question "How does this music work? "
Schenkerian analysis
Philosophy
Philosophical analysis – a general term for the techniques used by philosophers
Analysis (journal)|Analysis is the name of a prominent journal in philosophy.
Psychotherapy
Psychoanalysis – seeks to elucidate connections among unconscious components of patients' mental processes
Transactional analysis
Signal processing
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
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
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
Commons category
portal:thinking#Topics related to Thinking|List of thinking-related topics
