Analysis and synthesis.

1) Analysis (Greek - decomposition) - the division of an object or phenomenon into its constituent, simple parts.

2) Synthesis (Greek - connection, composition) - connection of parts of an object or phenomenon into a whole, consideration of an object in unity.

Metaphysics opposes analysis and synthesis as mutually exclusive methods. Materialistic dialectics, on the other hand, teaches about the unity of analysis and synthesis. Engels wrote that “thinking consists as much in the decomposition of objects of consciousness into their elements as in the unification of elements connected with each other into a unity. Without analysis, there is no synthesis.” V. I. Lenin also emphasizes the unity of analysis and synthesis in cognition. One of the elements of dialectics, V. I. Lenin points out, is “the combination of analysis and synthesis, - disassembly of individual parts and the totality, the summation of these parts together”

Analysis and synthesis are powerful means of human knowledge. Without them, even the elementary and simplest forms of mental activity—sensation, perception—are impossible. The objective world, objective things and phenomena appear before a person in all their complexity and concreteness. The concrete is the unity of the manifold. It is impossible to know this concrete without dividing it into its component parts and elements, without analyzing them. The chemist could know nothing about chemical processes, about the laws of association and dissociation of atoms, if the analysis did not give him the opportunity to single out the constituent parts of these processes - chemical elements, atoms, molecules. In the same way, the economist could know nothing about capitalism and its laws. economic development, if by analysis he had not singled out its elements - product, price, cost, surplus value etc. - and did not know their essence.

Analysis by itself, however, cannot give a complete knowledge of objects. It requires an addition in the form of a synthesis, which, based on the result of analysis, cognizes objects and phenomena as a whole. Marx, who gave in "" (see) a brilliant example of dialectical knowledge, is not limited to one analysis. After analyzing the individual aspects, the elements of the capitalist mode of production, Marx then gives a majestic synthesis showing the capitalist mode of production as a whole, in the dialectical interconnection of all its aspects and laws. Vivid examples of the dialectical application of analysis and synthesis to the knowledge of complex issues. public life and struggle give the works of Lenin and Stalin.

Thus, for example, Lenin in his work “Imperialism, as the Highest Stage of Capitalism”, developing the ideas of “Capital” as applied to the new historical period of capitalism and deeply revealing the essence of imperialism, uses both analysis and synthesis. First, V. I. Lenin explores through analysis various aspects, signs of imperialism, as a new, higher stage of capitalism. Having singled out and elucidated these signs, V. I. Lenin further summarizes them by means of a synthesis and gives a general definition of the essence of imperialism. J. V. Stalin in his work “Marxism and the National Question”, defining the essence of the nation, first, through analysis, highlights the inherent character traits, signs: common language, territory, economic life, mental warehouse. Then II. V. Stalin, by means of synthesis, gives a deep definition of the concept of "nation", which contains in a generalized form all its main features.

Thus, in the process of cognition, it is necessary to apply both analysis and synthesis, which, as subordinate moments, are included in the method of materialistic dialectics.

ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS (Greek analysis - decomposition and synthesis - connection) - in the most general sense, the processes of mental or actual decomposition of the whole into its constituent parts and reunification of the whole from the parts. Analysis and synthesis play an important role in the cognitive process and are carried out at all its stages. In mental operations, analysis and synthesis act as logical methods of thinking, performed with the help of abstract concepts and closely related to a number of mental operations: abstraction, generalization, etc. Logical analysis consists in the mental division of the object under study into its component parts and is a method for obtaining new knowledge . Depending on the nature of the object under study, analysis appears in various forms. The condition for comprehensive knowledge of the object under study is the versatility of its analysis. The division of the whole into its constituent parts makes it possible to reveal the structure of the object under study, its structure; the division of a complex phenomenon into simpler elements makes it possible to separate the essential from the non-essential, to reduce the complex to the simple; one of the forms of analysis is the classification of objects and phenomena. An analysis of the developing process makes it possible to distinguish various stages and contradictory tendencies in it, etc. In the process of analytical activity, thought moves from the complex to the simple, from the accidental to the necessary, from diversity to identity and unity. The purpose of analysis is the knowledge of parts as elements of a complex whole. However, the analysis leads to the isolation of the essence, which is not yet associated with the specific forms of its manifestation: the unity, which continues to remain abstract, has not yet been revealed as unity in diversity. Synthesis, on the contrary, is the process of combining into a single whole parts, properties, relationships, identified through analysis. Going from the identical, essential to difference and diversity, he unites the general and the individual, unity and diversity into a living concrete whole. Synthesis complements analysis and is inseparable unity with it. The dialectical-materialistic understanding of analysis and synthesis is opposed by their idealistic interpretation as only mental methods that are not related to the objective world and human practice, as well as the metaphysical isolation of analysis and synthesis, their opposition and absolutization of one of these two processes. In the history of philosophy, the opposition between analysis and synthesis is associated with the emergence in natural science and classical bourgeois political economy in the 17th and 18th centuries. analytical method. Replacing speculative constructions with an experimental study of empirical reality, this method played a progressive role at that time. The subsequent development of science showed that analytical method acts as a historical premise of the closely related synthetic method. From the point of view of epistemological significance, both methods, devoid of one-sidedness, act as interdependent logical processes subordinated to general requirements dialectical method.

Philosophical Dictionary. Ed. I.T. Frolova. M., 1991, p. 18-19.

rental block

Analysis is a logical method of dividing the whole into separate elements, considering each of them separately.

Synthesis - combining all the data obtained as a result of the analysis. Synthesis is not a simple summation of the results of analysis. Its task is to mentally reproduce the main connections between the elements of the analyzed whole.

The methods of analysis and synthesis involve the study of socio-economic phenomena both in parts - this is analysis (from the Greek analysis - decomposition, dismemberment), and as a whole - synthesis (from the Greek synthesis - connection, combination, compilation). For example, comparing the performance of individual departments is an analysis, and determining the industry-wide results of managing the entire industry is a synthesis.

Analysis as a method of cognition represents a mental or practical (material) division of an integral object into constituent elements (features, properties, relationships) and their subsequent study, implemented relatively independently of the whole. Analysis makes it possible to single out the essential and non-essential aspects and connections of the phenomenon, to determine each of the qualities (properties) in terms of meaning and role in the whole under consideration, thus separating the general from the singular, the necessary from the accidental, the main from the secondary.

Analysis is only the beginning of the process of cognition, since knowledge about the subject as a whole is not a simple sum of knowledge about its individual parts. Separate parts in the subject are interdependent, and to shed light on this interdependence gives the dialectical method of cognition, opposite to analysis, synthesis. During synthesis, the previously identified elements (features, properties, relations) of the object are mentally or practically combined into a single whole, taking into account the knowledge gained in the process of their study relatively independently of the whole.

Methods of analysis and synthesis in scientific research are interrelated. The depth of study of research objects with their help depends on the tasks. In practice, it is customary to distinguish two directions for their use: direct (or empirical) and return (or elementary theoretical). The first type is used at the stage of preliminary acquaintance with the object of study, and the second - as a tool for formulating new scientific provisions or generalizing the final results. Obviously, in the first case, the idea of ​​the object turns out to be superficial, and in the second - deep, penetrating into the essence of phenomena and regularities. With the help of analysis, new truths are established, new ideas are found, while with the help of synthesis the substantiation of these truths, ideas is realized.

In practice, a variety of this method is distinguished - structural-genetic analysis and synthesis, which makes it possible to establish causal relationships between individual characteristics of an object. It is used in the study of complex objects. Its essence lies in the fact that the object of research is divided into separate elements, the main ones are singled out, they are studied and links are established with other less significant ones.

The acquisition of new knowledge, regardless of whether it is carried out experimentally or theoretically, is impossible without various types inferences.

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To solve problems, a person uses many mental operations: analysis, synthesis, generalization, comparison, etc. Without them, cognitive activity, learning, and productive thinking in general are impossible. Today we will look at the essence of basic mental operations and find out how to teach them to a child.

Types of mental operations

Mental operations or theoretical research methods are one of the tools of mental activity aimed at solving problems. The main function of these operations is the awareness of the essence of processes, phenomena or objects. Simply put, everything that we mean by the word "think".

There are many theoretical research methods. The main ones are:

• Analysis. The decomposition of the whole into parts, the selection of individual features, properties, qualities of objects / phenomena.
• Synthesis. Combining parts into a whole based on the semantic relationships of objects / phenomena among themselves.
• Comparison. Comparison of objects / phenomena with each other, finding similarities and differences between them.
• Generalization. The combination of various objects / phenomena into one group based on common features (based on similarity).
• Specification. Filling some generalized scheme with a particular meaning (features, properties).
• Analogy. Transfer of knowledge about one subject/phenomenon to another (less studied or inaccessible for study).

These operations are indispensable in the process of learning, assimilation of new knowledge. Many of them are used by a person unconsciously and intuitively. However, in order to effectively apply these mental operations, it is necessary to develop and improve them already from primary school age.

Analysis

For younger students

• Name the properties. Offer the child a number of concepts (apple, table, dog, etc.) and ask them to name the essential features of each of them. For example, an apple is round, green and grows on a tree. The more properties the student names, the better. To complicate the task, you can ask the child to highlight a certain number of signs (at least five, seven, ten).
• Divide by feature. The student is offered a set of different shapes (small / large, red / blue / green / yellow squares / circles / triangles), which must be divided according to a certain attribute: first by shape, then by color and, finally, by size.

• Analysis literary work. The student's task is to read a poem or a story and explain how he understands its meaning, to guess what the author wanted to say with one or another part of the work.
• Analysis of the situation. The child is offered a situation that he needs to consider from all sides, to offer some solution to the problem, a possible development of events. For example, studying at a university. It can be paid and free. Paid education costs 80,000 rubles, for free education you need to score at least 200 USE points. For admission to one faculty, Russian language, mathematics and biology are needed, to the other - mathematics, Russian language and physics. In physics, the student has a five, and in biology - a four. Etc.

IMPORTANT! The student should not only make assumptions, but also explain them. I think so because...

Synthesis

For younger students

• Draw the missing figure. The child is offered several figures, united according to some attribute (color, shape, size). One object is missing in the row - the student must name it and finish it.
• Lay out the figure. From a set of elements, the child needs to fold an object: a square, a triangle, a rhombus, a house, a chair, etc.

For middle and high school students

• Mosaic. The number of puzzle elements depends on the age of the child: middle school students can be offered a mosaic of 50-150 pieces or a multi-colored mosaic, from which various pictures can be assembled on a special board; older children - large-scale images from 150 elements.
• Link things in a meaningful way. The student is given two or more concepts that he needs to relate to each other in meaning. For example, a puddle and a rainbow. Possible line of reasoning: a puddle forms after rain, a rainbow appears when the sun's rays illuminate the drops of moisture in the air. This means that the connection between these concepts is that they appear due to one phenomenon - rain.

Comparison

For younger students

• What common? The child is given a number of objects and asked to find the similarities between them. These can be figures of the same shape / color / size, flowers / animals of the same species, similar people, etc.
• How are they different? This task is similar to the previous one, only here it is necessary to say what is the difference between the items. You can use shapes of the same color, but different shapes, animals different types(cat and dog), etc. For very young children, the most dissimilar objects are used. You can also offer the child two pictures to find the differences between them.

For middle and high school students

• What is superfluous? The task of the student is to select from a set of objects one that is not similar to the others, is somewhat different from them. How older child, the more similar objects should be to each other, so that the difference is singled out as difficult as possible. Easy example: table, chair, bed, floor, closet. Complicated example: robbery, theft, earthquake, arson, assault.
• Hero Comparison. After reading a literary work or watching a movie (several), the student is invited to compare any two (or more) characters with each other. You can compare the appearance, character, actions of heroes. It is important that the student not only notes how the characters are similar / different, but also gives examples, explains his point of view.

Generalization

For younger students

• Pick a picture. This exercise can be done in two ways. 1. The child is given a set of pictures depicting various objects / phenomena (table, wardrobe, book, doll, cup, dog, pen, rainbow, apple, etc.). Its task is to find and set aside all images of objects of a certain group (furniture: table, bed, chair, wardrobe). 2. The student receives the same set of pictures as in the first option, only now his task will be to select an image of an object included in the same group as the one proposed. For example, the proposed object is a sofa; a chair, a table, a wardrobe, a bed are included in the same group with it.
• Name the group. The task can be performed on the basis of pictures or verbal concepts. The student is given a number of images / definitions that he needs to combine into one general group and name it. For example, strawberries, cherries, raspberries, blackberries. The group is berries.

For middle and high school students

• Name the group. This task is performed in the same way as a similar exercise for children of primary school age. Only here students are given more complex concepts. For example, love, hate, happiness. The group is feelings.
• Classification. The material for the exercise can be a text from a textbook on biology, chemistry, social studies, etc. or an arbitrary set of concepts. In the first case, the task becomes more complicated, since first the student needs to isolate concepts from the text. Then he combines them into different groups according to a certain feature, which can be indicated in advance or asked the child to select independently.

Specification

For younger students

• Name the words. In this exercise, the student needs to name as many words as possible from the group. For example, a group - berries, furniture, toys, etc.
• Answer the question. The student must answer as fully as possible questions relating to his knowledge, skills, understanding. For example, what animals do you know, how do they differ?

For middle and high school students

• Give me a definition. The student is offered a number of concepts that need to be explained in his own words, to say how he understands the essence of this or that phenomenon. For example, joy, love, adolescence, etc.
• Detailed response. In this exercise, the child is asked questions that he needs to answer as fully as possible. Why does the sun shine? Why don't people fly? etc.

Analogy

For younger students

• Simple analogies. First, the child is given an example on the basis of which the exercise will be performed. It is important to make sure that the student understands the example. Task: forest - tree (tree in the forest); meadow - ? (and what about in the meadow?) a goat is an animal; bread - ? etc. The task can be both in free form (the student himself comes up with an answer), and with answer options.

For middle and high school students

• complex analogy. The exercise is performed according to the same principle as the "Simple Analogies" for students elementary school. Only pairs of words are more complex. Task: face is a mirror; voice - ? ball - circle; cube - ? etc.

NOTE. Tasks for analogy can be absolutely anything. The main condition is that they must be built on relationships understandable to the child. The student is given an example and, by analogy with him, similar tasks are performed. For example, popular mathematical examples with relations: A=C, B=D. A is greater than B, therefore C...? (More D). Also in this category of exercises can be attributed to the implementation of actions according to the model.

One of the most common methods of cognition is analysis. In the 19th century, this method was generally identified with science. Obviously, for this reason, and at present, analysis is the dominant method of cognition. And, supplementing analytical procedures with synthesis, they usually do not talk about it or write about it. Most often, in justifying management decisions using the results of analysis, only the term “analysis” is used, although the decision itself is nothing more than a synthesis of the results of the analysis. So what is analysis, and what is synthesis, and why must analysis be supplemented by synthesis?

In general, analysis involves the division of the whole into parts and a detailed study (quantitative and qualitative) of these parts. The analysis itself, without further generalization of its results, has no practical significance. Any analysis of the parts that make up the whole is carried out to obtain by generalizing new knowledge about the whole to a more accurate and detailed information about its constituent parts. Such a generalization of analytical information, its transformation into new knowledge about the whole is called synthesis. About the logical connection between analysis and synthesis in the cognitive process, I.P. Suslov (Digression 3.10).

Digression 3.10. Analysis and synthesis: logical interdependence of application in the process of cognition

If, at the entrance of analysis, research proceeds from the individual, empirically concrete to the universal, then in the process of synthesis it unfolds from the universal to the theoretically known, structurally dissected concrete. As a result of synthesis, a cognizable phenomenon appears as a single whole, explained from its “generating basis”, an internal law ... Analysis and synthesis constitute a unity of opposites, two sides of a single cognitive process, therefore, their break is inadmissible... In principle, any cognitive act is both an analysis and a synthesis. For example, deriving the value of money, i.e. the transition from a more abstract category to a less abstract one is not only a synthesis, but also an analysis, since in this case the researcher draws on empirical data on commodity relations, showing the formation of money and scientific concept about them... With regard to research, one can speak of separate stages and periods of analytical and synthetic work. Let's say a study of a large economic problem carried out piecemeal in separate subdivisions... of the institute... The results of such analytical work are then synthesized. At each stage of the study, either analysis or synthesis can come to the fore. Analysis prepares the “work” for synthesis; synthesis helps analysis penetrate deeper into the essence of phenomena. The whole process of economic research can be conventionally depicted as a chain, where the link of analysis is followed by the link of synthesis, then more complex analysis and synthesis, and so on.

Source: Suslov I.P. Methodology of economic research. M. : Economics, 1983. S. 174-179.

According to I.P. Suslov, in solving any specific research problem, the process of cognition should be not just a form of an integral unidirectional sequence of methods for collecting data and producing new knowledge, but also a mechanism that allows you to return to the application of already applied methods, but on a different basis, richer in content. . Thus, looking ahead, it can be noted that the methodology of each specific study should be built on the principles of a systematic approach, the most important of which is feedback.

Analysis and synthesis must always be used together, and synthesis must complement analysis. In fact, it is. It's just that it's usually not mentioned. We can give a couple of examples not from the economy. So, the patient donates blood for analysis. Then he comes to the doctor, who, focusing on the quantitative indicators of blood components, synthesizes the results of the analysis into a diagnosis (however, no one says that the patient was sent to donate blood for synthesis; everyone says that he went to donate blood for analysis). The same can be said about the work of the country's meteorological services. Numerous meteorological stations, as well as meteorological satellites, collect a huge amount of data on the state of the atmosphere, cloudiness, wind direction and strength, precipitation, etc., which flow as data to the country's Hydrometeorological Center, where they are processed, forming into powerful information arrays in order to be subjected to deep analysis. And all this is done only to ensure that the results of the analysis are synthesized into forecasts for the country as a whole and for its regions. It is in this way that analysis and synthesis are applied in all branches of science. The economy is no exception here. A. Marshall is right: the methods of cognition are the same for all sciences (see Digression 3.3), but their application is determined by the content of each specific branch of knowledge.

As for economics, as in other branches of science (see above examples from medicine, meteorology), discussions about analysis are considered as if separately, not in connection with synthesis. This clearly follows from the content of educational literature and economic practice. So, in higher education from time immemorial it has been taught training course"Analysis of economic activity". Published and published a huge number of textbooks and teaching aids, which are called "Analysis of economic activity" or "Economic analysis of economic activity"; there are textbooks with the title "Market Analysis" or something else, but with the indispensable use of only the word "analysis". There is not a word about synthesis either in the title or in the content of this extensive educational literature. In this regard, the assumption may arise that synthesis as a method of cognition is not studied at all in the higher economic school; only one analysis is studied.

However, it is not. Synthesis, both in management practice and in the educational process, is given no less attention than analysis, only without the use of the word "synthesis". In economic practice - as well as in medicine and meteorology, where synthesis is used, but they are talking about a diagnosis, weather forecast - synthesis based on the results of an analysis of economic activity or market analysis is used in the development of proposals for the development of enterprises, regions, countries in the form of goals , strategies, plans, programs and other management decisions. In the educational process, synthesis procedures are presented in extensive literature on the development and justification of management decisions, plans, projects, programs, goals, strategies, etc. In these educational publications, a reservation is always made that any such solution is based on analysis, but it is never said that such a method of cognition as synthesis is also involved here. Although this was not always the case. For example, when defining the concept of "Scientific Organization of Labor" (SOT), formulated in the early 1920s, the term "analysis" is used in conjunction with the term "synthesis" (Digression 3.11).

Digression 3.11. Analysis and synthesis: two sides of a single cognitive process

Under scientific organization labor must be understood as an organization based on a careful study of production process with all the accompanying conditions and factors. The main method in this case is the measurement from nature of the costs of time, materials and mechanical work, the analysis of all the data obtained and the synthesis, which gives a harmonious, most profitable production plan.