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Change-Point Analyzer Software

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Version 2.3 for Windows 2000, XP, Vista and 7, including the 64-bit versions.

What is Change-Point Analyzer?

Change-Point Analyzer is a shareware software package for analyzing time ordered data to determine whether a change has taken place. It detects multiple changes and provides both confidence levels and confidence intervals for each change. The results are clearly displayed in table form and supplemented by easy to interpret plots. It can be used with all types of data: pass/fail, individual values, averages, ranges, standard deviations, normal, nonnormal and ill-behaved data like bioburden and particulate counts. It can be used to trend complaints, inventory turns, sales, particulate counts and just about anything else.

Change-Point Analyzer is simple to use, even for someone with no experience with control charting. It can be learned in about 15 minutes by following the tutorials provided below. It automatically verifies assumptions, checks for outliers and guides the user in handling such special cases. It even comes with a Excel Add-In making it possible to perform the analysis directly from Excel. For those in FDA regulated industries, it comes complete with a validation package.

Change-Point Analyzer is an important problem solving tool which can be used to complement real-time control charts. Analyzing control charting data using Change-Point Analyzer will help to better isolate the time of a change, help to identify more subtle changes missed by the control chart, and expose false detections.

When performing a one-time analysis on historical data, a change-point analysis is preferred to control charting, especially when you are dealing with large data sets. When performing such analyses, a change-point analysis has numerous advantages over a control chart.

Change-Point Analyzer was developed by Dr. Wayne Taylor. It utilizes state of the art techniques including CUSUM charts and bootstrap analysis.

Capabilities

Detects multiple changes
For each change:
- Provides a confidence level that change occurred
- Estimates the time of the change and provides a corresponding confidence interval
Handles all types of data: pass/fail, individual values, averages, ranges, standard deviations, normal, nonnormal, counts, and ill-behaved data like bio and particulate counts.

Advantages

More powerful than control charts at detecting sustained changes.
Better characterizes changes including detection of multiple changes, providing associated confidence levels, and providing confidence intervals for the times of the changes.
Reduces the number of false detections when dealing with large data sets.
Robust to outliers
Flexible: The same procedure works for all types of data.
Simpler to use and easier to interpret

Awards

Change-Point Analyzer received ZDNet's four star rating.

Download Software - 30 Day Free Trial

Change-Point Analyzer is a shareware program. A full version of the software can be downloaded for a 30-day free trial. After 30 days, if you want to continue using the software, you must register it at a cost of US$80 ($86.40 for residents of Illinois). Registration entitles you to free upgrades for 1 year.

Self-Extracting File: (1,665 K)

Click the above button to download a self-extracting file. The file cpa23.exe will be downloaded. Executing this file will install the software on your system. This is the easiest way to download and install the software on your system.

ZIP File: (1,638 K)

Click the above button to download a ZIP file. The file cpa23.zip will be downloaded. You must unzip the files contained in the ZIP file into a temporary directory and then run the program setup.exe. You must have your own software for unzipping the file.

To get started using the program, please download and read the tutorials below. Further information can be found in the help system. It can be easily uninstalled. It requires 3 MB of hard disk space.

Registering Software

To continue using the software after the 30-day trial period, you must register your copy of the software at a cost of US$80 ($86.40 for residents of Illinois). You can register the software using our secure server by clicking the above button. Otherwise you can register by Fax or mail using the following registration form. Also available are discounts for multiple users and site licenses.

Further Information:

General:

Tutorials: To learn how to use Change-Point Analyzer and see examples of it in action, select any of the following. You must have a copy of the free Adobe Acrobat Reader® to view the files.

Tutorial 1 - Getting Started - Learn the basic procedure for performing a change-point analysis and learn how to interpret the output. 9 pages. (139 KB).
Tutorial 2 - Multiple Observations Per Time Period - Learn to handle data containing more than 1 observation per time period. 3 pages. (93 KB).
Tutorial 3 - Performing a Change-Point Analysis Within Excel - Learn to install and use the Excel Add-In for performing a change-point analysis directly from Excel. 4 pages. (75 KB).
Tutorial 4 - Custom Analysis Dialog Box - Learn to analyze subsets of the data and to specify titles and labels. 6 pages. (70 KB).
Tutorial 5 - Handling Outliers - Learn how to analyze data containing outliers and extreme values by ranking the data. 4 pages. (78 KB).
Tutorial 6 - Handling Violation of Assumptions - Learn what to do if a dialog box appears warning you of a violation of assumptions. 4 pages. (68 KB).

Technical Articles: For those who want to understand how Change-Point Analyzer works.

Change-Point Analysis: A Powerful New Tool For Detecting Changes - Detailed explanation of how a change-point analysis works. 19 pages. (85 KB).
A Pattern Test for Distinguishing Between Autoregressive and Mean-Shift Data - Very technical. 14 pages. (80 KB).

Articles Published by our Customers: See how change-point analysis is being used.

The Impact of a Celebrity Promotional Campaign on the use of Colon Cancer Screening: The Katie Couric Effect - Peter Cram, A. Mark Fendrick, John Inadomi, Mark E. Cowen, Daniel Carpenter, Sandeep Vijan - Archives of
Internal Medicine (July 14, 2003), Vol. 163, 1601-1605.

Movement-Related Changes in Synchronization in Human Basal Ganglia - Michael Cassidy, Paolo Mazzone, Antonio Oliviero, Angelo Insola, Pietro Tonali, Vincenzo Di Lazzaro and Peter Brown - Brain (2002 June), 125 (Pt 6), 1235-46. Brain is a prestigious neuroscience journal. Change-point analysis was used to analyze the reaction of the brain track to certain stimulus allowing comparisons between treated and untreated patients with Parkinson's disease.

300-Hz Subthalamic Oscillations in Parkinson's Disease - G. Foffani, A. Priori, M. Egidi, P. Rampini, F. Tamma, E. Caputo, K. A. Moxon, S. Cerutti and S. Barbieri - Brain (2003 August 21), 126, 2153-2163. Brain is a prestigious neuroscience journal. Change-point analysis was used to analyze changes in the 300-Hz subthalamic oscillations in response to a motion stimulus so that the resulting changes could be compared before and after the administration of levodopa.
Use of Change-Point Analysis for Process Monitoring and Control: A better method for trend analysis than CUSUM and control charts - Patrick Gavit, Yasser Baddour, Rebecca Tholmer. BioPharm International, August 2009.
CPA collaboration google site at https://sites.google.com/site/changepointanalysis/