I was on a conference call with a group that is doing work with us, and one of the speakers kept talking about their "analytics." No one on our end knew what he meant, and it seemed to be (though we're still not sure) their outcome measures.
In looking it up, I only find this definition: the science of logical analysis. Clearly that wasn't his use of it.
Have you seen this word used as our speaker used it?
I don't understand the problem. I use Google Analytics to monitor my blogs. I had no trouble understanding the word. It's a perfectly straightforward transfer of adjectival usage to nominal usage.
Analytic: using or skilled in the use of analysis (Onelook)
Analytics: Noun form of above.
This kind of thing is absolutely commonplace in English.
blue - adjective the blue was intense - noun
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
If Kalleh, who is a professional in her field, is stumped by the word as it is used, then the speaker is doing something wrong. Either they are talking gibberish or they are not (as should be done always when a new word or concept is introduced) explaining what it means. In any group, there will be those who are just being introduced to what may be a new concept or term. They deserve an explanation.
As far as the explanations offered here, there is no way of knowing if any are what the speaker referred to. The speaker's terminology may totally different than that mentioned.
I don't understand the problem. I use Google Analytics to monitor my blogs. I had no trouble understanding the word.
We were talking about transitioning new nurses to practice, and we had asked a group from around the country to respond to the model (non-mathematical and non-computer model) our group had developed. How would you have taken the term in that context, Bob? There were about 10 of us in the room (executive directors of boards of nursing, deans of major nursing schools, and chief nurse officers from large medical centers) listening to input from people on the conference call, and none understood what he meant. I wasn't the only one.
quote:
My guess is that they mean some set of equations that take some measurements as input and calculate other numbers from them.
It didn't have much to do with math, neveu, though I suppose some numbers could be reported (such as retention statistics). So maybe you are right. However, there are many, many reports on studies like this, of which I've read most (and published a few myself). I've never seen the word used in this context, which is why I asked. It was a rather formal conference call or I would have asked him to clarify it further.
Next time I will invite Bob on our call. This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,
Exactly how, in context, was the word used? I'd probably have assumed that he meant "the methods by which we measure our success" - exactly as it is used in "Google Analytics".
Personally I'd have more of an issue with "transition" as a verb. ()
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
Transitioning new graduates from education to practice is used all the time here. Since the OED defines the verb form of "transition," I feel quite confident on that one. The OED is always my gold standard.
The researcher was quite vague about how he was using the word, as I had said, so that was unclear, Bob, even after we asked him. Since our organizations are working on the same issue, I will be in contact with him again so I'll ask. We thought he was referring to his outcome measures, but since nobody else uses "analytics" for outcome measures, we weren't sure.
By the way, we are looking for a more marketable phrase than "transition to practice." Scotland uses "Flying Start," and we'd love to come up with something sexy like that. If anyone has suggestions, we'd love it! We'll reward you with a copy of our model. [And maybe a few analytics, to boot!]
M-W defines it as "the method of logical analysis," and Dictionary.com as "the science of logical analysis." It apparently dates back to about 1590. Here's part of what Wikipedia has to say:
quote:
The simplest definition of Analytics is "the science of analysis". A simple and practical definition, however, would be how an entity (i.e., business) arrives at an optimal or realistic decision based on existing data. Business managers may choose to make decisions based on past experiences or rules of thumb, or there might be other qualitative aspects to decision making; but unless there are data involved in the process, it would not be considered analytics.
Common applications of Analytics include the study of business data using statistical analysis in order to discover and understand historical patterns with an eye to predicting and improving business performance in the future. Also, some people use the term to denote the use of mathematics in business. Others hold that field of analytics includes the use of Operations Research, Statistics and Probability. However, it would be erroneous to limit the field of analytics to only statistics and mathematics.
The researcher was quite vague about how he was using the word, as I had said, so that was unclear, Bob, even after we asked him.
Which is one sign of a charlatan. Not to say he is one for sure, but jargon is often used to make the speaker appear more expert (and superior) than they actually are. If he can't explain his own term, how can you know what he means?
Your definition, Tinman, definitely doesn't fit with what he was talking about. I will find out and get back to this thread.
Perhaps "analytics" was a mountweazel , which I recently read about in WWFTD. Seriously, isn't that a great word? I surely didn't know that dictionaries did that. I wonder if the word is used more generally than inserts in dictionaries or encyclopedias.This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,
I just went over my notes from the conversation about analytics, and twice the speaker was cautioning us to "ensure that the analytics are used consistently."
When I was a web editor, I also used Google Analytics to track how many times our various pages were visited, and how much traffic we got on which pages. It's a cool little tool, and it's free. You can also set up an account to track visits to Friends of Epicaricacy. I just generally understood the word to mean "analysis of the results," so your understanding of it as a measure of outcomes is right on the money, in my understanding.
At a conference I attended last week, I heard the word "analytics" thrown around a lot. "Make sure you are keeping tabs on your analytics," etc. It seems to be the latest tech-biz jargon, just as a few years ago, EVERYBODY started saying "going forward" instead of "the future." Sometimes that one makes me want to scream. What's wrong with the future, going forward, eh? Not that I want to change the subject of this thread, but really!
Oh, and here's another, the word "granular," meaning "down to a fine level of detail." So if we want to "get more granular" with our discussion about this web site as we plan the site map, we will plan out web pages down to the fifth or sixth level from the homepage. Or we might "drill down" instead.
There's just a lot of that sort of thing going around now, and going forward!
Wordmatic
Posts: 1390 | Location: Near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Well, I see outcomes as different from the analysis, but from this discussion I see that must be what he meant. It certainly wasn't clear to this particular audience. The term we use all the time would be "outcomes measures." While "analytics" obviously is a well-known Web term, it isn't a well-known research term, at least yet.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh, 
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