In research, schemes that classify events into an organization or a structure that in some way reflects a causal or developmental relationship and thus is a weak form of causal explanation.
A scheme for grouping the entities (items) making up a universe into categories (see category). A classification is a systematic scheme of organization of information in which a whole body of things-for example, automobiles, houses, hospitals, or procedures-have been grouped (classified) into categories (classes or “pigeonholes”) so that the groups can be compared, studied, analyzed, or otherwise processed. Classifications are used in health care to organize patient (and patient care) information for such purposes as studying diseases, assessing quality of care, and determining charges to be made for health care services. Confusion results when the word classification (the whole schema) is used when “class” is intended.