3D QSAR approaches relate the biological activity of compounds to their 3D structural properties using statistical analysis. CoMFA is a commonly used 3D-QSAR method that involves aligning molecules, placing them in a grid, calculating electrostatic and steric field properties at each point, and correlating these descriptors to biological activity using PLS analysis. CoMFA results are often displayed as contour plots that identify regions where certain molecular properties increase or decrease activity. X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy can provide experimental data on bioactive conformations.