gnuplot is a command-line and GUI program that can generate two- and three-dimensional plots of functions, data, and data fits. The program runs on all major computers and operating systems . Originally released in 1986, its listed authors are Thomas Williams, Colin Kelley, Russell Lang, Dave Kotz, John Campbell, Gershon Elber, Alexander Woo "and many others." Despite its name, this software is not part of the GNU Project.
Curve fitting is the process of constructing a curve, or mathematical function, that has the best fit to a series of data points, possibly subject to constraints. Curve fitting can involve either interpolation, where an exact fit to the data is required, or smoothing, in which a "smooth" function is constructed that approximately fits the data. A related topic is regression analysis, which focuses more on questions of statistical inference such as how much uncertainty is present in a curve that is fit to data observed with random errors. Fitted curves can be used as an aid for data visualization, to infer values of a function where no data are available, and to summarize the relationships among two or more variables. Extrapolation refers to the use of a fitted curve beyond the range of the observed data, and is subject to a degree of uncertainty since it may reflect the method used to construct the curve as much as it reflects the observed data.
ROOT is an object-oriented computer program and library developed by CERN. It was originally designed for particle physics data analysis and contains several features specific to the field, but it is also used in other applications such as astronomy and data mining. The latest minor release is 6.28, as of 2023-02-03.
In time series analysis, the Box–Jenkins method, named after the statisticians George Box and Gwilym Jenkins, applies autoregressive moving average (ARMA) or autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models to find the best fit of a time-series model to past values of a time series.
LabPlot is a free software cross-platform computer program for interactive scientific graphing and data analysis, written mainly for the KDE desktop for Unix-like operating systems, and later available for Microsoft Windows. It is similar to Origin, and is able to import Origin's data files.
Fityk is curve fitting and data analysis application, predominantly used to fit analytical, bell-shaped functions to experimental data. It is positioned to fill the gap between general plotting software and programs specific for one field, e.g. crystallography or XPS.
Origin is a proprietary computer program for interactive scientific graphing and data analysis. It is produced by OriginLab Corporation, and runs on Microsoft Windows. It has inspired several platform-independent open-source clones and alternatives like LabPlot and SciDAVis.
The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of statistical analysis packages.
QtiPlot is a cross-platform computer program for interactive scientific graphing and data analysis. It is similar to Origin or SigmaPlot.
A forest plot, also known as a blobbogram, is a graphical display of estimated results from a number of scientific studies addressing the same question, along with the overall results. It was developed for use in medical research as a means of graphically representing a meta-analysis of the results of randomized controlled trials. In the last twenty years, similar meta-analytical techniques have been applied in observational studies and forest plots are often used in presenting the results of such studies also.
SciDAVis is an open-source cross-platform computer program for interactive scientific graphing and data analysis. Development started in 2007 as fork of QtiPlot, which in turn is a clone of the proprietary program Origin.
NCSS is a statistics package produced and distributed by NCSS, LLC. Created in 1981 by Jerry L. Hintze, NCSS, LLC specializes in providing statistical analysis software to researchers, businesses, and academic institutions. It also produces PASS Sample Size Software which is used in scientific study planning and evaluation.
Data Desk is a software program for visual data analysis, visual data exploration, and statistics. It carries out Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA) and standard statistical analyses by means of dynamically linked graphic data displays that update any change simultaneously.
PSI-Plot is a scientific and engineering data analysis and technical plotting software developed by Poly Software International, Inc. The software can read multiple formats and perform mathematical transforms and statistical analyses. PSI-Plot is maintained on Microsoft Windows operating systems, and the current version is 9.5 for Windows 98 to Windows 7.
In statistics and data analysis the application software CumFreq is a tool for cumulative frequency analysis of a single variable and for probability distribution fitting.
Probability distribution fitting or simply distribution fitting is the fitting of a probability distribution to a series of data concerning the repeated measurement of a variable phenomenon. The aim of distribution fitting is to predict the probability or to forecast the frequency of occurrence of the magnitude of the phenomenon in a certain interval.
For the American musician, see Wayne Nelson.
