  If asked what ‘analysis’ means, most people today  immediately think of breaking something down into its components; and this is how analysis tends to be officially characterized. In the  Concise Oxford Dictionary, for example,  ‘analysis’ is defined as the “resolution into  simpler elements by analysing (opp. synthesis)”, the  only other uses mentioned being the mathematical and the  psychological   [Quotation].  And in the Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy,  ‘analysis’ is defined as “the process of breaking a concept down into more simple parts, so that its logical structure is displayed”   [Quotation].  The restriction to concepts and the reference to displaying  ‘logical structure’ are important qualifications, but the core conception remains that of breaking something down.