分析 and 考察: Analyzing Water or Story Structure and Considering Causes
Compare laboratory water analysis and scene-by-scene story analysis with considering causes and adding discussion to a report. Read the material examined and the interpretation offered without treating consideration as proven causation.
分析: Collected water and a story's structure
分析 (ぶんせき) means analysis. 「集めた水を研究室で分析した。」 — “We analyzed the collected water in the laboratory.” Collected water is the object of analysis, and the laboratory is the location. The sentence reports analyzing it, without supplying composition measurements or the findings themselves.
「物語の構成を場面ごとに分析して発表した。」 — “I analyzed the story's structure scene by scene and gave a presentation.” This example reports analyzing the story's structure scene by scene and giving a presentation. A story's organization can be the object of 分析, so the word is not restricted to laboratory measurements.
考察: Considering a cause and adding discussion
考察 (こうさつ) means consideration or analysis. 「実験の結果を基に原因を考察した。」 — “We considered the cause based on the experimental results.” The experimental results provide the basis for considering a cause. Considering it does not itself establish that the cause was conclusively verified.
「報告書の最後に詳しい考察を加えた。」 — “I added a detailed analysis at the end of the report.” Detailed 考察 was added at the end of the report. This addition does not establish completion or approval of the whole report. The English translation also calls this discussion an analysis, preserving overlap between the activities.
Compare what is examined with what is interpreted
The water and story examples identify the objects examined. The cause and report examples identify the interpretation considered and where discussion was added. Read each sentence's object, basis, and action to follow that focus.
These are separate situations, rather than a stated sequence in one report. They do not make 考察 a mandatory stage following 分析 or assign numbers exclusively to analysis and prose exclusively to discussion.
How does 分析 of collected water or a story's structure differ in focus from 考察 of a cause based on experimental results?
Show the answer and why
The first examples identify the material or structure examined; the cause example identifies what was considered on the basis of results. Story structure can also be analyzed, and considering a cause does not establish a final verification of causation.