A decision support system for the run suitability check and an explorative method validation for electrothermal atomic absorption calibration lines is described. The first sub-system, the run suitability check, investigates whether the quality of calibration and standard addition lines meets the pre-established standards. When this is not the case, the system identifies the problem for which remedies may be proposed, when appropriate. The second sub-system, the explorative method validation, is based on parts of the run suitability check and investigates whether candidate methods are promising or need further exploration.