By Dr. Simon Bates, Rigaku Americas Corp X-ray powder diffraction has been the gold standard for solid state pharmaceutical analysis for quite some time. However, when it comes to amorphous solid dispersions, the reliance on traditional peak based peak analysis is not sufficient to glean a complete structural understanding of the system. Total diffraction methods, on the other hand, contain a wealth f information on local structure and molecular packing within the amorphous state. But, structural information alone is not sufficient to fully characterize amorphous systems. The total diffraction characterization should be combined with dynamic thermal measurements for a more complete materials characterization. In this presentation, I will discuss total diffraction methods for amorphous materials and the combination with simultaneous in situ DSC measurements for a more enhanced materials characterization.