Environmental effects emanate from a variety of cause-effect relationships wherein changes to or disruption of parts of the biophysical environment by human activities lead to changes in these and other parts. The range of effects is both large and varied. Some are measurable and others are not. Some are short-term, others are long-term. Some are site-specific, others extend over large areas. An interdisciplinary approach is required to assess the range. However, the process of environmental assessment involves a search for a comprehensive evaluation of the potential effects of a proposed development. Thus, a systematic, organised means of analysing the range, magnitude, and significance of effects is required. Methods of impact analysis are designed to accomplish this organisational and analytical synthesis, theoretically without losing the significance of specific, important areas of impact.

7.1 Types of Methods
7.2 Goals of Methods
7.3 Important Characteristics of Methods
7.4 Checklists
7.5 Scaling and Weighting Techniques
7.6 Overlays
7.7 Matrices
7.8 Networks
7.9 Cumulative Impact Assessment (CIA)
7.10 References