a method for determining characteristics of a material includes illuminating the material with coherent light so as to produce scattered light ; autocorrelating the scattered light ; preprocessing a signal representative of the scattered light to produce a processed signal ; and associating the analyzed data with particular characteristics of the material . at least one of a cumulant analysis and a cluster analysis may be performed to provide analyzed data . the determined characteristics may be used for real time control or termination a process used to alter the characteristics of the material . specifically , monitoring of a process for changes in particle size as a function of time or to determine various physical and / or chemical characteristics of the particles or a mixture containing same , including homogeneity , may be achieved . an apparatus operating generally in accordance with the method is also disclosed .