1) ANOVA compares the means of two or more populations to determine if they are statistically significantly different. It tests the null hypothesis that all population means are equal.
2) ANOVA partitions the total variation into two components: variation between groups and variation within groups. The between-groups variation reflects differences in group means, while the within-groups variation reflects random error.
3) The test statistic used is F, which is the ratio of between-groups variation to within-groups variation. If F is sufficiently large, the null hypothesis is rejected, indicating at least one population mean is different.