Analysis - Wikipedia

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Analysis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Analysis is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better
understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before
Aristotle (384322 B.C.), though analysis as a formal concept is a relatively recent development.[1]
The word comes from the Ancient Greek (analysis, "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] Ren 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).

Contents
1 Applicants
1.1 Chemistry
1.1.1 Isotopes
1.2 Business
1.3 Computer science
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 Public Policy
1.14 Signal processing
1.15 Statistics
1.16 Other
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

Applicants
Chemistry
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

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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
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.

A clinical chemistry analyzer; hand

shows size

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
Wireless Opportunity analysis - consists of customers trends within the wireless telephone industry,
customer demand and experience determine purchasing behavior

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 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 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

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Input-output model if applied to a region, is called Regional Impact Multiplier System

Engineering
Analysts in the field of engineering look at requirements, structures, mechanisms, systems and dimensions.
Electrical engineers analyse 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
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
Linguistics look at individual languages and language in general. It breaks language down and analyses 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
analyses 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
Literary criticism is the analysis of literature. The focus can be as diverse as the analysis of Homer or Freud.
While not all literary-critical methods are primarily analytical in nature, the main approach to the teaching of
literature in the west since the mid-twentieth century, literary formal analysis or close reading, is. This
method, rooted in the academic movement labelled The New Criticism, approaches texts - chiefly short
poems such as sonnets, which by virtue of their small size and significant complexity lend themselves well
to this type of analysis - as units of discourse that can be understood in themselves, without reference to
biographical or historical frameworks. This method of analysis breaks up the text linguistically in a study of
prosody (the formal analysis of meter) and phonic effects such as alliteration and rhyme, and cognitively in
examination of the interplay of syntactic structures, figurative language, and other elements of the poem that
work to produce its larger effects.

Mathematics
Modern 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.
Florian Cajori explains in A History of Mathematics (1893) the difference between modern and ancient
mathematical analysis, as distinct from logical analysis, as follows:
The terms synthesis and analysis are used in mathematics in a more special sense than in logic.
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In ancient mathematics they had a different meaning from what they now have. The oldest
definition of mathematical analysis as opposed to synthesis is that given in [appended to]
Euclid, XIII. 5, which in all probability was framed by Eudoxus: "Analysis is the obtaining of
the thing sought by assuming it and so reasoning up to an admitted truth; synthesis is the
obtaining of the thing sought by reasoning up to the inference and proof of it."

The analytic method is not conclusive, unless all operations involved in it are known to be
reversible. To remove all doubt, the Greeks, as a rule, added to the analytic process a synthetic
one, consisting of a reversion of all operations occurring in the analysis. Thus the aim of
analysis was to aid in the discovery of synthetic proofs or solutions.
James Gow uses a similar argument as Cajori, with the following clarification, in his A Short History of
Greek Mathematics (https://books.google.com/books?id=KSe_ZEmHaXEC&) (1884):
The synthetic proof proceeds by shewing that the proposed new truth involves certain admitted
truths. An analytic proof begins by an assumption, upon which a synthetic reasoning is founded.
The Greeks distinguished theoretic from problematic analysis. A theoretic analysis is of the
following kind. To prove that A is B, assume first that A is B. If so, then, since B is C and C is
D and D is E, therefore A is E. If this be known a falsity, A is not B. But if this be a known truth
and all the intermediate propositions be convertible, then the reverse process, A is E, E is D, D
is C, C is B, therefore A is B, constitutes a synthetic proof of the original theorem. Problematic
analysis is applied in all cases where it is proposed to construct a figure which is assumed to
satisfy a given condition. The problem is then converted into some theorem which is involved
in the condition and which is proved synthetically, and the steps of this synthetic proof taken
backwards are a synthetic solution of the problem.

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 is the name of a prominent journal in philosophy.

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

Public Policy
Policy Analysis The use of statistical data to predict the effects of policy decisions made by
governments and agencies
Qualitative Analysis The use of anecdotal evidence to predict the effects of policy decisions or, more
generally, influence policy decisions

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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
Fourier 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 analyze 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 analysed
Bowling analysis Analysis of the performance of cricket players
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
List of thinking-related topics
Formal analysis
Methodology

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Scientific method

References
1. Michael Beaney (Summer 2012). "Analysis". The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Michael Beaney.
Retrieved 23 May 2012.
2. Douglas Harper (20012012). "analysis (n.)". ONLINE ETYMOLOGY DICTIONARY. Douglas Harper. Retrieved
23 May 2012.
3. O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham", MacTutor History of Mathematics
archive, University of St Andrews.

External links
Analysis (https://inpho.cogs.indiana.edu/idea/1508) at the
Indiana Philosophy Ontology Project
"Analysis". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Analysis (http://philpapers.org/browse/conceptual-analysis) at
PhilPapers

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