Attribution Analysis in Portfolio Management

Consider a portfolio manager who has been assessing the performance of their equity portfolio against a relevant benchmark, the S&P 500 Index. The portfolio had a return of 12% for the year, while the S&P 500 Index returned 10%. Part of the manager's evaluation process includes performing attribution analysis to understand the sources of the portfolio's outperformance.

Attribution analysis typically helps in determining whether the outperformance was due to selective stock picking, asset allocation, or a combination of both. In this case, if the portfolio had a large position in technology stocks, which outperformed the market significantly, this could point to effective sector allocation by the manager.

Based on this information, which aspect of attribution analysis is most likely being utilized in this scenario?