Abstract: A universal data measurement, analysis and control system is disclosed. The system will permit end-users to analyze the measurement protocol by publishing the data gathering environments and data definitions. The disclosed system will manage the exchange of data between different software applications and provide consistent metric data outputs. Furthermore, the disclosed method provides an analysis system that defines a consistent and repeatable measurement model that also supports changes to a control object over time in addition to changes to the measurement data associated with the control object. Specifically disclosed is a method for gathering engineering change proposal data, for determining the causes for the engineering change proposal, and also providing a historical repository.