computer science

Path analysis (computing)

Path analysis (computing) is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Path analysis (computing) rather than just read about it. In short: Path analysis is the analysis of a path, which is a portrayal of a chain of consecutive events that a given user or cohort performs during a set period of time while using a website, online game, or eCommerce platform. As a subset of behavioral analytics, path analysis is a way to understand user behavior in order to gain actionable insights into the data.

Key takeaways

Path analysis (computing) belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Path analysis (computing) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Path analysis (computing) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Path analysis is the analysis of a path, which is a portrayal of a chain of consecutive events that a given user or cohort performs during a set period of time while using a website, online game, or eCommerce platform. As a subset of behavioral analytics, path analysis is a way to understand user behavior in order to gain actionable insights into the data. Path analysis provides a visual portrayal of every event a user or cohort performs as part of a path during a set period of time. While it is possible to track a user's path through the site, and even show that path as a visual representation, the real question is how to gain these actionable insights. If path analysis simply outputs a "pretty" graph, while it may look nice, it does not provide anything concrete to act upon.

Examples In order to get the most out of path analysis the first step would be to determine what needs to be analyzed and what are the goals of the analysis. A company might be trying to figure out why their site is running slow, are certain types of users interested in certain pages or products, or if their user interface is set up in a logical way. Now that the goal has been set there are a few ways of performing the analysis. If a large percentage of a certain cohort, people between the ages of 18 and 25, logs into an online game, creates a profile and then spends the next 10 minutes wandering around the menu page, then it may be that the user interface is not logical. By seeing this group of users following the path that they did a developer will be able to analyze the data and realize that after creating a profile, the “play game” button does not appear. Thus, path analysis was able to provide actionable data for the company to act on and fix an error. In eCommerce, path analysis can help customize a shopping experience to each user. By looking at what products other customers in a certain cohort looked at before buying one, a company can suggest “items you may also like” to the next customer and increase the chances of them making a purchase. Also, path analysis can help solve performance issues on a platform. For example, a company looks at a path and realizes that their site freezes up after a certain combinations of events. By analyzing the path and the progression of events that led to the error, the company can pinpoint the error and fix it.

Evolution Historically path analysis fell under the broad category of website analytics, and related only to the analysis of paths through websites. Path analysis in website analytics is a process of determining a sequence of pages visited in a visitor session prior to some desired event, such as the visitor purchasing an item or requesting a newsletter. The precise order of pages visited may or may not be important and may or may not be specified. In practice, this analysis is done in aggregate, ranking the paths (sequences of pages) visited prior to the desired event, by descending frequency of use. The idea is to determine what features of the website encourage the desired result. "Fallout analysis," a subset of path analysis, looks at "black holes" on the site, or paths that lead to a dead end most frequently, paths or features that confuse or lose potential customers. With the advent of big data along with web-based applications, online games, and eCommerce platforms, path analysis has come to include much more than just web path analysis. Understanding how users move through an app, game, or other web platform are all part of modern-day path analysis.

Understanding visitors In the real world when you visit a shop the shelves and products are not placed in a random order. The shop owner carefully analyzes the visitors and path they walk through the shop, especially when they are selecting or buying products. Next the shop owner will reorder the shelves and products to optimize sales by putting everything in the most logical order for the visitors. In a supermarket this will typically result in the wine shelf next to a variety of cookies, chips, nuts, etc. Simply because people drink wine and eat nuts with it. In most web sites there is a same logic that can be applied. Visitors who have questions about a product will go to the product information or support section of a web site. From there they make a logical step to the frequently asked questions page if they have a specific question. A web site owner also wants to analyze visitor behavior. For example, if a web site offers products for sale, the owner wants to convert as many visitors to a completed purchase. If there is a sign-up form with multiple pages, web site owners want to guide visitors to the final sign-up page. Path analysis answers typical questions like: Where do most visitors go after they enter my home page? Is there a strong visitor relation between product A and product B on my web site?. Questions that can't be answered by page hits and unique visitors statistics.

Funnels and goals Google Analytics provides a path function with funnels and goals. A predetermined path of web site pages is specified and every visitor walking the path is a goal. This approach is very helpful when analyzing how many visitors reach a certain destination page, called an end point analysis.

Using maps The paths visitors walk in a web site can lead to an endless number of unique paths. As a result, there is no point in analyzing each path, but to look for the strongest paths. These strongest paths are typically shown in a graphical map or in text like: Page A --> Page B --> Page D --> Exit.

See also Funnel analysis Cohort analysis website analytics Big data Data mining Analytics Business intelligence Test and Learn Business Process Discovery Statistics Customer dynamics Behavioral analytics

References

Further reading "Determining Visitor Behavior Patterns". Web Analytics Tutorial. Archived from the original on 2013-12-06. Gupta, Srishti. "Is User Path Analysis The Right Path?". Harris, Jeff. "Big Data and Predictive Analytics" (PDF). Xerox Services. Cutroni, Justin (19 October 2011). "Path Analysis in Google Analytics with Flow Visualization". Analytics Talk. "Big Data" (PDF). Technology Roadmap. Infocomm Development Authority of Sinagapore. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-08-10. Retrieved 2013-07-10. Coren, Yehoshua (15 March 2012). "Understanding Google Analytics Multi Channel Funnels". Online-Behavior.com.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Path analysis (computing)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Path analysis (computing) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Path analysis (computing) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Path analysis (computing) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Path analysis (computing)

In research: Path analysis (computing) appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Path analysis (computing) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Path analysis (computing) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Applied data mining, Business analytics, Business intelligence terms, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Path analysis (computing) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Path analysis (computing) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Path analysis (computing) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Path analysis (computing) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Path analysis (computing) in simple terms?

Why does Path analysis (computing) matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Path analysis (computing)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Path analysis (computing).