Analysis

An analysis is a process of study or research. To do it is to split a complex idea into pieces to see how it is made up. It is the opposite of synthesis, which is to bring ideas together.

• Analyse (or analyze, American English) means to look closely and carefully at something or to study it. Other words with the same or similar meanings are evaluate, examine, and investigate.
• Mathematical analysis is the name given to any branch of mathematics that looks at what functions are, how they behave, and what nice things can be done with them.