Analytical unit - entities created by statisticians (also referred to as statistical constructs), often by splitting or combining observation units in order to compile statistics that are more detailed and more homogeneous than it would be possible to compile by using data on observation units. Although analytical units are not themselves able to report data on their activities, there do exist indirect methods of statistical estimation, including imputation of such data.

International Recommendations for Industrial Statistics, 2008 (IRIS 2008)