Level of analysis

The term "level of analysis" is used in the social sciences to point to the location, size, or scale of a research target. "Level of analysis" is distinct from the term "unit of observation" in that the former refers to a more or less integrated set of relationships while the latter refers to the distinct unit from which data have been or will be gathered. Together, the unit of observation and the level of analysis help define the population of a research enterprise.

"Level of analysis" in cognitive science

Marr's tri-level hypothesis

According to David Marr, information processing systems must be understood at three distinct yet complementary levels of analysis - an analysis at one level alone is not sufficient.

Computational

The computational level of analysis identifies what the information processing system does (e.g.: what problems does it solve or overcome) and similarly, why does it do these things.

Algorithmic/representational

The algorithmic/representational level of analysis identifies how the information processing system performs its computations, specifically, what representations are used and what processes are employed to build and manipulate the representations.