Information and analytical activity is one of the most important areas of intellectual activity of modern man. It is associated with solving problems in various spheres of life: politics, history, economics, education and others. Such work is carried out according to a certain technique. The main sources of information are text data, to simplify the processing of which automated systems are used.
general description
In science, there are many definitions of information-analytical activity. Most often it is considered as one of the processes in the field of management. If we consider it from a terminological point of view, then it consists of two terms:
- analysis - the division of objects into separate elements, which ultimately allows you to get a general idea of their structure and functions;
- information, or rather, its collection, accumulation, systematization and processing.
In a more general understanding, an analyst is a type of technique of mental activity, with the help of which factual data are processed with forecasting elements. The content of this concept by various scientists and researchers has its own specific shades:
- a tool for converting intuitive concepts into a logical category;
- the form of knowledge used to develop optimal management decisions;
- a method for studying implicit processes in socio-economic and political life;
- mechanism for summarizing disparate data;
- the basis of research and others.
Essence and structure
The basis of the structure of information and analytical activities is the following processes:
- analysis of goals and statement of tasks;
- the collection of information in conjunction with adaptation to changing conditions of the situation;
- analysis and evaluation of the data in the context of managerial goals;
- revealing the essence of the studied processes and phenomena;
- the formation of the model for a substantial part of the data and the environment of the facility;
- checking the conformity of the model and its adjustment (if necessary);
- planning and carrying out an experiment in natural conditions or creating a mental working model;
- the formation of new knowledge based on research, forecasting;
- substantiation and communication of the results to the consumer, contractor or managerial decision maker.
This discipline includes three main components:
- methodology of work in the analytical and informational aspect;
- organizational support;
- technical and methodological support (the creation of instrumental components to achieve the goals).
Based on the above basic processes, analytics is the basis of mental activity, which is aimed at solving practical problems. In terms of cognitive activity, even the erroneous conclusion obtained as a result of analytical reflection also has a certain value, since it contributes to the acquisition of new knowledge.
History of development
The origin of the foundations of information-analytical activity is rooted in the history of ancient Greece. In the IV century BC e. Aristotle, the philosopher and founder of logic, wrote two books - First Analytics and Second Analytics. In them he formulated and interpreted the laws of classical logic.
Another ancient Greek philosopher - Socrates - is considered the founder of analytical technologies. In his writings, he used polemical analysis, the purpose of which was to obtain new knowledge in the course of a dispute with an opponent.
In the XX century. such an area of knowledge and understanding has become a professional informational and analytical activity. In all countries, government agencies have information and analytical services. They are created in individual organizations, banks, educational and other institutions. Software development methods are being developed.
In Russia, this sphere of human activity began to take shape only at the end of the 20th century. as a result of exacerbation of socio-economic problems. Currently, non-governmental analytical centers are actively being created, the main mission of which is the development of civil society and the solution of social problems (IAC “Sova”, the Carnegie Moscow Center and others).
Goals and Management Tasks
The main goal of information and analytical work (IAR) is to obtain qualitatively new information on the issue under study as a result of a generalization of the source materials, which were accepted for processing as not systematized and erratic.
Within the framework of strategic consulting of the organization, the objectives of this process are:
- providing guidance on objective data on internal and external functioning;
- preparation of the basis for developing an enterprise development course;
- identification of bottlenecks in the management system;
- implementation of large-scale projects.
Levels
During the implementation of such activities, two levels are distinguished:
- Information level (or empirical). Work at this stage involves obtaining and pre-processing the actual data. The level consists of several stages: obtaining and fixing information, its understanding and description in scientific terms, classification and determination of the main dependencies. The researcher’s work also consists in filtering out irrelevant details and data of a random nature, in identifying the most typical, often repeated facts, determining the development trend, and identifying obvious connections.
- Analytical level (or theoretical). At this stage, a deep and comprehensive analysis of the factual material, a study of the essence of phenomena and processes, a qualitative and quantitative determination of patterns. The result of the work is the prediction of possible events and the development of recommendations for implementing impact on future processes.
Principles
The main principles of information and analytical activities are:
- focus on specific goals to perform applied tasks;
- the significance of the study at a given time (relevance), the timeliness of the results;
- the use of reliable data for analysis, objectivity in drawing conclusions and proposals, an impartial attitude to the study;
- accounting for all information related to the task, continuous monitoring of conditions and their changes;
- a loyal approach to the opinion of each employee of the analytical service, the development of alternative options, including those that go beyond generally accepted ideas;
- using the latest achievements of science and technology to obtain reasonable results;
- complex problem solving taking into account the interconnection of various factors;
- high level of adaptation to changing socio-political conditions.
Technology
Based on the basic elements of the structure of this concept, it is possible to determine the technological cycle of IAR. The technology of analytical work is a set of methods and operations organized in time that contribute to the achievement of a goal. The following is a brief sequence:
- Preparatory work.
- Study search characteristics.
- Information gathering and its preliminary analysis (empirical stage).
- Directly analytical activity.
Preparatory work includes the following activities:
- description of the problem;
- development of the main goal and its refinement, establishment of a work style that takes into account the specifics of the consumer of information products;
- determination of the preliminary budget for the study.
A detailed study of search activities contains the following operations:
- the formation of a group of workers to conduct research, the appointment of a project manager;
- splitting the main goal into functions, tasks and operations;
- the development of private (intermediate) goals in the areas;
- formation of a list of possible sources of information and evaluated features, the composition of the data sample sufficient to solve the problem;
- definition of personnel and other resources for information search;
- establishment of data sources and assessment of their information content;
- budgeting for the information level.
Analysis and the final stage of information and analytical activity
The empirical stage of work consists of such procedures as:
- identification of data collection tools;
- accumulation of information;
- analysis of sample representativeness;
- integration of data arrays obtained from different sources, assessment of their inconsistency;
- analysis of the entire array, determination of trends;
- synthesis of the model;
- making conclusions about goals that can be achieved without corrective actions;
- determination of the budget for the final stage.
The analytical, final stage of work is carried out in the following order:
- identification of critical points, the impact on which can lead to maximum effect;
- creation of a simulation model;
- evaluation of the result;
- development of an integrated management strategy;
- delivery of the information product to the customer.
Sources of information
The data used during information and analytical activities may be symbolic and non-symbolic in nature. The second type includes design features, chemical composition and other types of samples. Most often, the following sources of symbolic (text) data are used:
- non-operational information objects (archives, libraries, document stores);
- traditional carriers: books, magazines, newspapers and other periodicals, manuscripts, photographs;
- non-traditional data carriers: holographic, magneto-optical, optical drives, computer networks of various levels, magnetic tapes;
- objects of operational information - information and communication systems (television, broadcasting, multiserver and cellular communication systems, and others).
Text data has the largest information capacity. Their advantage is also that their collection and processing is relatively easy to automate.
Types of Automation Tools
IAR informatization is carried out using two types of tools:
- to collect and accumulate data;
- for processing and analyzing information.
The use of automated systems can significantly reduce the time spent searching and processing text information. Their disadvantage is that the generated results still need to be edited and edited by a person, and it is also impossible to filter out the implicit mention of terms.
Information and analytical systems
Modern software can provide the following set of search services:
- analysis of the exact match of a word or set of words with a search task;
- adaptive search taking into account various word forms;
- search taking into account the spacing of phrase elements in the text at a given distance (it is measured in words);
- search for phrases based on permutations and permutations of words.
In the domestic and foreign markets there are many developments of a similar nature: software "Pathfinder", "Arion", "Classifier", Decision, "Annotator", Deductor, DBMS "Kronos", TextAnalyst, VisualLinks and others.