If it has, analysis may become mere recall. There are three forms of analysis. Analysis of elements and the analysis of relationships include distinguishing between and among facts, opinions, hypotheses, unstated assumptions, essential and unessential arguments, and warranted and unwarranted conclusions. These analytical skills are essential in business, and underlie many critical thinking tests. The analysis of organizational principles requires that students determine the form, pattern, or structure that organizes the material they have learned.
Analysis is more than knowledge.
When students recall analytical comments made by the teacher and then apply them to another case, they are exhibiting rote behavior, the knowledge level. At the analysis level, students must develop their own analytical abilities. Analysis is more than comprehension. Synthesis Level Synthesis is the most creative cognitive process. The modifications or new ideas or procedures may not be technically or totally correct, but they should be reasonable attempts given the students' subject mastery.