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Analysis
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Analysisistheprocessofbreakingacomplextopicorsubstanceintosmallerpartsinordertogainabetter
understandingofit.ThetechniquehasbeenappliedinthestudyofmathematicsandlogicsincebeforeAristotle
(384322B.C.),thoughanalysisasaformalconceptisarelativelyrecentdevelopment.[1]
ThewordcomesfromtheAncientGreek(analysis,"abreakingup",fromana"up,throughout"andlysis
"aloosening").[2]
Asaformalconcept,themethodhasvariouslybeenascribedtoAlhazen,[3]RenDescartes(Discourseonthe
Method),andGalileoGalilei.IthasalsobeenascribedtoIsaacNewton,intheformofapracticalmethodof
physicaldiscovery(whichhedidnotname).

Contents
1 Applicants
1.1 Chemistry
1.1.1 Isotopes
1.2 Business
1.3 Computerscience
1.4 Economics
1.5 Engineering
1.6 Intelligence
1.7 Linguistics
1.8 Literature
1.9 Mathematics
1.10 Music
1.11 Philosophy
1.12 Psychotherapy
1.13 PublicPolicy
1.14 Signalprocessing
1.15 Statistics
1.16 Other
2 Seealso
3 References
4 Externallinks

Applicants
Chemistry
Thefieldofchemistryusesanalysisinatleastthreeways:toidentifythecomponentsofaparticularchemical
compound(qualitativeanalysis),toidentifytheproportionsofcomponentsinamixture(quantitativeanalysis),and
tobreakdownchemicalprocessesandexaminechemicalreactionsbetweenelementsofmatter.Foranexampleof
itsuse,analysisoftheconcentrationofelementsisimportantinmanaginganuclearreactor,sonuclearscientists
willanalyzeneutronactivationtodevelopdiscretemeasurementswithinvastsamples.Amatrixcanhavea
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considerableeffectonthewayachemicalanalysisisconductedandthe
qualityofitsresults.Analysiscanbedonemanuallyorwithadevice.
Chemicalanalysisisanimportantelementofnationalsecurityamongthe
majorworldpowerswithmaterialsmeasurementandsignatureintelligence
(MASINT)capabilities.
Isotopes
Chemistscanuseisotopeanalysistoassistanalystswithissuesin
anthropology,archeology,foodchemistry,forensics,geology,andahostof
otherquestionsofphysicalscience.Analystscandiscerntheoriginsof
naturalandmanmadeisotopesinthestudyofenvironmentalradioactivity.

Aclinicalchemistryanalyzerhand
showssize

Business
Financialstatementanalysistheanalysisoftheaccountsandtheeconomicprospectsofafirm
Fundamentalanalysisastockvaluationmethodthatusesfinancialanalysis
Technicalanalysisthestudyofpriceactioninsecuritiesmarketsinordertoforecastfutureprices
Businessanalysisinvolvesidentifyingtheneedsanddeterminingthesolutionstobusinessproblems
Priceanalysisinvolvesthebreakdownofapricetoaunitfigure
Marketanalysisconsistsofsuppliersandcustomers,andpriceisdeterminedbytheinteractionofsupply
anddemand
WirelessOpportunityanalysisconsistsofcustomerstrendswithinthewirelesstelephoneindustry,
customerdemandandexperiencedeterminepurchasingbehavior

Computerscience
Requirementsanalysisencompassesthosetasksthatgointodeterminingtheneedsorconditionstomeet
foraneworalteredproduct,takingaccountofthepossiblyconflictingrequirementsofthevarious
stakeholders,suchasbeneficiariesorusers.
Competitiveanalysis(onlinealgorithm)showshowonlinealgorithmsperformanddemonstratesthepower
ofrandomizationinalgorithms
Lexicalanalysistheprocessofprocessinganinputsequenceofcharactersandproducingasoutputa
sequenceofsymbols
ObjectorientedanalysisanddesignlaBooch
Programanalysis(computerscience)theprocessofautomaticallyanalyzingthebehaviorofcomputer
programs
Semanticanalysis(computerscience)apassbyacompilerthataddssemanticalinformationtotheparse
treeandperformscertainchecks
Staticcodeanalysistheanalysisofcomputersoftwarethatisperformedwithoutactuallyexecuting
programsbuiltfromthat
StructuredsystemsanalysisanddesignmethodologylaYourdon
Syntaxanalysisaprocessincompilersthatrecognizesthestructureofprogramminglanguages,also
knownasparsing
Worstcaseexecutiontimedeterminesthelongesttimethatapieceofsoftwarecantaketorun

Economics
Agroecosystemanalysis
Inputoutputmodelifappliedtoaregion,iscalledRegionalImpactMultiplierSystem

Engineering
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Analystsinthefieldofengineeringlookatrequirements,structures,mechanisms,systemsanddimensions.
Electricalengineersanalysesystemsinelectronics.Lifecyclesandsystemfailuresarebrokendownandstudiedby
engineers.Itisalsolookingatdifferentfactorsincorporatedwithinthedesign.

Intelligence
Thefieldofintelligenceemploysanalyststobreakdownandunderstandawidearrayofquestions.Intelligence
agenciesmayuseheuristics,inductiveanddeductivereasoning,socialnetworkanalysis,dynamicnetwork
analysis,linkanalysis,andbrainstormingtosortthroughproblemstheyface.Militaryintelligencemayexplore
issuesthroughtheuseofgametheory,RedTeaming,andwargaming.Signalsintelligenceappliescryptanalysis
andfrequencyanalysistobreakcodesandciphers.Businessintelligenceappliestheoriesofcompetitive
intelligenceanalysisandcompetitoranalysistoresolvequestionsinthemarketplace.Lawenforcementintelligence
appliesanumberoftheoriesincrimeanalysis.

Linguistics
Linguisticslookatindividuallanguagesandlanguageingeneral.Itbreakslanguagedownandanalysesits
componentparts:theory,soundsandtheirmeaning,utteranceusage,wordorigins,thehistoryofwords,the
meaningofwordsandwordcombinations,sentenceconstruction,basicconstructionbeyondthesentencelevel,
stylistics,andconversation.Itexaminestheaboveusingstatisticsandmodeling,andsemantics.Itanalyses
languageincontextofanthropology,biology,evolution,geography,history,neurology,psychology,and
sociology.Italsotakestheappliedapproach,lookingatindividuallanguagedevelopmentandclinicalissues.

Literature
Literarycriticismistheanalysisofliterature.ThefocuscanbeasdiverseastheanalysisofHomerorFreud.While
notallliterarycriticalmethodsareprimarilyanalyticalinnature,themainapproachtotheteachingofliteraturein
thewestsincethemidtwentiethcentury,literaryformalanalysisorclosereading,is.Thismethod,rootedinthe
academicmovementlabelledTheNewCriticism,approachestextschieflyshortpoemssuchassonnets,whichby
virtueoftheirsmallsizeandsignificantcomplexitylendthemselveswelltothistypeofanalysisasunitsof
discoursethatcanbeunderstoodinthemselves,withoutreferencetobiographicalorhistoricalframeworks.This
methodofanalysisbreaksupthetextlinguisticallyinastudyofprosody(theformalanalysisofmeter)andphonic
effectssuchasalliterationandrhyme,andcognitivelyinexaminationoftheinterplayofsyntacticstructures,
figurativelanguage,andotherelementsofthepoemthatworktoproduceitslargereffects.

Mathematics
Modernmathematicalanalysisisthestudyofinfiniteprocesses.Itisthebranchofmathematicsthatincludes
calculus.Itcanbeappliedinthestudyofclassicalconceptsofmathematics,suchasrealnumbers,complex
variables,trigonometricfunctions,andalgorithms,orofnonclassicalconceptslikeconstructivism,harmonics,
infinity,andvectors.
FlorianCajoriexplainsinAHistoryofMathematics(1893)thedifferencebetweenmodernandancient
mathematicalanalysis,asdistinctfromlogicalanalysis,asfollows:
Thetermssynthesisandanalysisareusedinmathematicsinamorespecialsensethaninlogic.In
ancientmathematicstheyhadadifferentmeaningfromwhattheynowhave.Theoldestdefinitionof
mathematicalanalysisasopposedtosynthesisisthatgivenin[appendedto]Euclid,XIII.5,whichin

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allprobabilitywasframedbyEudoxus:"Analysisistheobtainingofthethingsoughtbyassumingit
andsoreasoninguptoanadmittedtruthsynthesisistheobtainingofthethingsoughtbyreasoningup
totheinferenceandproofofit."

Theanalyticmethodisnotconclusive,unlessalloperationsinvolvedinitareknowntobereversible.
Toremovealldoubt,theGreeks,asarule,addedtotheanalyticprocessasyntheticone,consistingof
areversionofalloperationsoccurringintheanalysis.Thustheaimofanalysiswastoaidinthe
discoveryofsyntheticproofsorsolutions.
JamesGowusesasimilarargumentasCajori,withthefollowingclarification,inhisAShortHistoryofGreek
Mathematics(https://books.google.com/books?id=KSe_ZEmHaXEC&)(1884):
Thesyntheticproofproceedsbyshewingthattheproposednewtruthinvolvescertainadmittedtruths.
Ananalyticproofbeginsbyanassumption,uponwhichasyntheticreasoningisfounded.TheGreeks
distinguishedtheoreticfromproblematicanalysis.Atheoreticanalysisisofthefollowingkind.To
provethatAisB,assumefirstthatAisB.Ifso,then,sinceBisCandCisDandDisE,thereforeA
isE.Ifthisbeknownafalsity,AisnotB.Butifthisbeaknowntruthandalltheintermediate
propositionsbeconvertible,thenthereverseprocess,AisE,EisD,DisC,CisB,thereforeAisB,
constitutesasyntheticproofoftheoriginaltheorem.Problematicanalysisisappliedinallcaseswhere
itisproposedtoconstructafigurewhichisassumedtosatisfyagivencondition.Theproblemisthen
convertedintosometheoremwhichisinvolvedintheconditionandwhichisprovedsynthetically,and
thestepsofthissyntheticprooftakenbackwardsareasyntheticsolutionoftheproblem.

Music
Musicalanalysisaprocessattemptingtoanswerthequestion"Howdoesthismusicwork?"
Schenkeriananalysis

Philosophy
Philosophicalanalysisageneraltermforthetechniquesusedbyphilosophers
Analysisisthenameofaprominentjournalinphilosophy.

Psychotherapy
Psychoanalysisseekstoelucidateconnectionsamongunconsciouscomponentsofpatients'mental
processes
Transactionalanalysis

PublicPolicy
PolicyAnalysisTheuseofstatisticaldatatopredicttheeffectsofpolicydecisionsmadebygovernments
andagencies
QualitativeAnalysisTheuseofanecdotalevidencetopredicttheeffectsofpolicydecisionsor,more
generally,influencepolicydecisions

Signalprocessing
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Finiteelementanalysisacomputersimulationtechniqueusedinengineeringanalysis
Independentcomponentanalysis
Linkqualityanalysistheanalysisofsignalquality
Pathqualityanalysis
Fourieranalysis

Statistics
Instatistics,thetermanalysismayrefertoanymethodusedfordataanalysis.Amongthemanysuchmethods,
someare:
Analysisofvariance(ANOVA)acollectionofstatisticalmodelsandtheirassociatedprocedureswhich
comparemeansbysplittingtheoverallobservedvarianceintodifferentparts
Booleananalysisamethodtofinddeterministicdependenciesbetweenvariablesinasample,mostlyused
inexploratorydataanalysis
Clusteranalysistechniquesforgroupingobjectsintoacollectionofgroups(calledclusters),basedon
somemeasureofproximityorsimilarity
Factoranalysisamethodtoconstructmodelsdescribingadatasetofobservedvariablesintermsofa
smallersetofunobservedvariables(calledfactors)
Metaanalysiscombinestheresultsofseveralstudiesthataddressasetofrelatedresearchhypotheses
Multivariateanalysisanalysisofdatainvolvingseveralvariables,suchasbyfactoranalysis,regression
analysis,orprincipalcomponentanalysis
Principalcomponentanalysistransformationofasampleofcorrelatedvariablesintouncorrelatedvariables
(calledprincipalcomponents),mostlyusedinexploratorydataanalysis
Regressionanalysistechniquesforanalyzingtherelationshipsbetweenseveralvariablesinthedata
Scaleanalysis(statistics)methodstoanalyzesurveydatabyscoringresponsesonanumericscale
Sensitivityanalysisthestudyofhowthevariationintheoutputofamodeldependsonvariationsinthe
inputs
Sequentialanalysisevaluationofsampleddataasitiscollected,untilthecriterionofastoppingruleismet
Spatialanalysisthestudyofentitiesusinggeometricorgeographicproperties
Timeseriesanalysismethodsthatattempttounderstandasequenceofdatapointsspacedapartatuniform
timeintervals

Other
Auraanalysisatechniqueinwhichsupportersofthemethodclaimthatthebody'saura,orenergyfieldis
analysed
BowlinganalysisAnalysisoftheperformanceofcricketplayers
Lithicanalysistheanalysisofstonetoolsusingbasicscientifictechniques
Protocolanalysisameansforextractingpersons'thoughtswhiletheyareperformingatask

Seealso
Listofthinkingrelatedtopics
Formalanalysis
Methodology
Scientificmethod

WikimediaCommonshas
mediarelatedtoAnalysis.

References
1.MichaelBeaney(Summer2012)."Analysis".TheStanfordEncyclopediaofPhilosophy.MichaelBeaney.Retrieved
23May2012.
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2.DouglasHarper(20012012)."analysis(n.)".ONLINEETYMOLOGYDICTIONARY.DouglasHarper.Retrieved
23May2012.
3.O'Connor,JohnJ.Robertson,EdmundF.,"AbuAlialHasanibnalHaytham",MacTutorHistoryofMathematics
archive,UniversityofStAndrews.

Externallinks
Analysis(https://inpho.cogs.indiana.edu/idea/1508)attheIndiana
PhilosophyOntologyProject
"Analysis".StanfordEncyclopediaofPhilosophy.
Analysis(http://philpapers.org/browse/conceptualanalysis)at
PhilPapers

Wikiquotehasquotations
relatedto:Analysis
LookupAnalysisor
analysisinWiktionary,the
freedictionary.

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