What is a factor? This word is used in mathematics, economics, programming, medicine and other areas of life. The general meaning of the given term is an action, reason, source or main problem in any process.
Meaning of the word
What is a factor? The answer can be found in Latin. Translated means - producing, doing . The word refers to a separate significant sign, circumstance or set of reasons that affect the outcome of a future business, illness or environmental condition.
There are many definitions in the literature that describe what a “factor” is:
- the reason is when used in medicine or in the description of processes;
- organization - in the financial system;
- programming language - concatenative in computer science;
- action - in the legal sphere;
- printing manager, old name;
- small intermediary - in this meaning has not been used recently;
- in compound words: risk factor or Rh factor.
Use
To describe what a factor is, we consider in more detail several cases. In medicine, when it comes to the development of a disease, the word is divided into 2 groups: exogenous and endogenous factors. These are negative conditions (external and internal, respectively) that affect the appearance of pathological conditions.
In society and the environment they determine what a factor is, by the following conditions - it can be a combination of actions, accidents, inexplicable phenomena. So, when building a model for the development of society, factors that affect the integrity of the political system and the country in general are taken into account. These include social inequality, mass unrest for any reason, support for armed groups by foreign governments.
Special cases of using the word
If you need to analyze in detail what a factor is, the meaning of the word is most fully described in economics and works on supporting production processes. In order to ensure safety, enterprises collect statistics that include risk factors for humans.
And for the normal operation of the business, production factors are required:
- land;
- capital;
- work;
- entrepreneurial ability.
Risk factors are described as technological disasters, political instability in the country, ethnic divisions in society, and poverty. This also includes possible infections, the likelihood of injuries, fire, the influence of weather conditions, the reliability of supply facilities.