SPECTRAL ANALYSIS
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 3130 ▶ |
| Object type | Methodology or model |
A mathematical technique which permits the discovery of superposed frequencies in a curve.
As many different frequencies can be made to appear strictly by mathematical treatment, spectral analysis must be used with care.
K. BOULDING for instance, observes that economists have given scant attention to the underlying cybernetic regulations in economic processes and that: “Perhaps as a result of this failure to take a significant intellectual tool simply because (they) have not made it themselves, economists seem virtually to have lost interest in the theory of fluctuations and what work has been done in this has been of an extremely mechanical nature, using for instance, spectral analysis, which is an elegant way of detecting probably nonexistent cycles and throws no light on the real structures and processes which underlie fluctuations” (1972, p. 86)
The technique is also known as “Fourier analysis”, \term“{Frequency analysis}”, or “Harmonic analysis”.