What is Multivariate Analysis?

When researchers conduct a survey or experiment there are often many variables of interest.

Multivariate analysis is a branch of statistics concerned with the analysis of multiple measurements, made on one or several samples of individuals. For example, we may wish to measure the length, width, and weight of a product.

There is always more than one side to the problem you are trying to solve. It’s the same in your data.

In other words,

Multivariate analysis is a set of techniques used for the analysis of data that contain more than one variable.

Multivariate analysis provides a more accurate view of the behavior between variables that are highly correlated and can detect potential problems in a product or process.

Many decisions are based on univariate analysis, but only multivariate analysis reveals relationships that help you detect problems that are not obvious by looking at the variables individually.