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Data envelopment analysis (DEA) is a nonparametric method in operations research and economics for the estimation of production frontiers. [1] DEA has been applied in a large range of fields including international banking, economic sustainability, police department operations, and logistical applications [2] [3] [4] Additionally, DEA has been used to assess the performance of natural language ...
For example, if a distribution is a combination of 98% N(μ, σ) and 2% N(μ, 10σ), the presence of extreme values from the latter distribution (often "contaminating outliers") significantly reduces the efficiency of the sample mean as an estimator of μ.
Less widely found is best-case performance, but it does have uses: for example, where the best cases of individual tasks are known, they can be used to improve the accuracy of an overall worst-case analysis. Computer scientists use probabilistic analysis techniques, especially expected value, to determine expected running times.
A detailed example of the positivist approach is a study conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California report titled "Evaluating Academic Programs in California's Community Colleges", in which the evaluators examine measurable activities (i.e. enrollment data) and conduct quantitive assessments like factor analysis.
Cost-effectiveness analysis focuses on maximising the average level of an outcome, distributional cost-effectiveness analysis extends the core methods of CEA to incorporate concerns for the distribution of outcomes as well as their average level and make trade-offs between equity and efficiency, these more sophisticated methods are of ...
For example, in the analysis of the energy conversion efficiency of heat engines in thermodynamics, the product P may be the amount of useful work output, while the consumable C is the amount of high-temperature heat input.
An explanation of the difference between efficiency and (total factor) productivity is found in "An Introduction to Efficiency and Productivity Analysis". [1] To complicate the meaning, operational excellence , which is about continuous improvement, not limited to efficiency, is occasionally used when meaning operational efficiency.
For example, it forms an underlying rationale for cost–benefit analysis. In cost–benefit analysis, a project (for example, a new airport) is evaluated by comparing the total costs, such as building costs and environmental costs, with the total benefits, such as airline profits and convenience for travelers.