# Comparison vs penetrative profile

## Penetrative

A **Penetrative** profile compares one group of records as a subset of another. An example penetrative profile would be to compare a subset of records who have responded to a particular mailing against the whole record set which was mailed. Clearly, the responders are a subset of the group who were originally mailed.

## Comparison

A **Comparison** profile looks at one group against another, separate group. An example comparison profile would be to compare male responders to a particular mailing campaign against female responders. In this case the two record sets being compared are non overlapping.

To select the type of Profile wanted:

1. Click on the **Profile Settings** icon.
2. From the **Type** box choose either **Comparison** or **Penetrative** and then click **OK**.