ABSTRACT
Broadly defined, the analysis of data can be considered in terms of two, largely non-overlapping aspects: exploratory and confirmatory. The former is usually an open-ended undertaking, focused on uncovering previously unknown insights, relationships or dependencies. The latter is focused primarily on hypothesis testing, or validating theoretically or otherwise derived beliefs. Typically, data exploration precedes confirmatory analysis—in fact, the initial exploratory analysis might give rise to hypothesis, to be tested within the realm of confirmatory analysis.
