Structural break

A structural break is a change in the pattern of a data set. It is like switching between two different ways of doing things. For example, imagine a train track. The track could have a straight section, and then a switch which turns the track in a different direction. The switch is a structural break- it looks different from the straight track, and when the train passes it, the way the train moves changes in order to follow the new path. In a data set, a structural break could look like a big jump or dip in the data, or it could be a gradual change. It depends on the data and what the change is. When a structural break happens, it’s usually because something important has changed in the system.