analysisanalyses

Analysisanalyses is a term sometimes used to refer to investigations that examine analyses themselves. In this sense, it denotes meta-analytical or meta-methodological work that evaluates how analyses are conceived, constructed, executed, and reported. The term is not widely standardized, and in formal literature, similar ideas are usually described as meta-analyses of analytical methods, methodological reviews, or meta-method studies.

The scope of analysisanalyses spans disciplines, including statistics, data science, philosophy, linguistics, and social sciences. It includes assessments of analytic frameworks, comparison of different data-processing pipelines, critiques of modeling assumptions, and evaluations of reporting standards. The aim is to improve clarity, rigor, and reproducibility of the analyses themselves.

Common objectives include identifying biases in analytic choices, measuring the impact of methodological variability on results, and recommending best practices for design and reporting. In statistics and data science, this often takes the form of studies comparing analysis pipelines or aggregating performance across analyses, a second-order cousin to standard meta-analysis.

Methods typically involve systematic literature reviews, protocol preregistration, risk-of-bias assessment tailored to analytical methods, and qualitative or quantitative synthesis of how analyses are performed. Challenges include definitional ambiguity, heterogeneity of analysis types, publication bias, and the risk of conflating distinct domains.

Despite limited usage, analysisanalyses highlights an increasingly recognized need for evaluating the methods by which knowledge is produced. It complements traditional metascience and can help drive improvements in reliability and transparency across fields.