Forecasting Principles And Practice

Forecasting is required in many situations. Stocking an inventory may require forecasts of demand months in advance. Telecommunication routing requires traffic forecasts a few minutes ahead. Whatever the circumstances or time horizons involved, forecasting is an important aid in effective and efficient planning. This textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to forecasting methods and presents enough information about each method for readers to use them sensibly.

Forecasting is required in many situations. Deciding whether to build another power generation plant in the next five years requires forecasts of future demand. Scheduling staff in a call centre next week requires forecasts of call volumes. Stocking an inventory requires forecasts of stock requirements. Telecommunication routing requires traffic forecasts a few minutes ahead. Whatever the circumstances or time horizons involved, forecasting is an important aid in effective and efficient planning. This textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to forecasting methods and presents enough information about each method for readers to use them sensibly. Examples use R with many data sets taken from the authors' own consulting experience. In this third edition, all chapters have been updated to cover the latest research and forecasting methods. One new chapter has been added on time series features. The latest version of the book is freely available online at http: //OTexts.com/fpp3.

"A comprehensive introduction to the latest forecasting methods using R. Learn to improve your forecast accuracy using dozens of real data examples." --cover.

Time series data analysis is increasingly important due to the massive production of such data through the internet of things, the digitalization of healthcare, and the rise of smart cities. As continuous monitoring and data collection become more common, the need for competent time series analysis with both statistical and machine learning techniques will increase. Covering innovations in time series data analysis and use cases from the real world, this practical guide will help you solve the most common data engineering and analysis challengesin time series, using both traditional statistical and modern machine learning techniques. Author Aileen Nielsen offers an accessible, well-rounded introduction to time series in both R and Python that will have data scientists, software engineers, and researchers up and running quickly. You’ll get the guidance you need to confidently: Find and wrangle time series data Undertake exploratory time series data analysis Store temporal data Simulate time series data Generate and select features for a time series Measure error Forecast and classify time series with machine or deep learning Evaluate accuracy and performance

Concise, engaging, and highly intuitive—this accessible guide equips you with an understanding of all the basic principles of forecasting Making accurate predictions about the economy has always been difficult, as F. A. Hayek noted when accepting his Nobel Prize in economics, but today forecasters have to contend with increasing complexity and unpredictable feedback loops. In this accessible and engaging guide, David Hendry, Michael Clements, and Jennifer Castle provide a concise and highly intuitive overview of the process and problems of forecasting. They explain forecasting concepts including how to evaluate forecasts, how to respond to forecast failures, and the challenges of forecasting accurately in a rapidly changing world. Topics covered include: What is a forecast? How are forecasts judged? And how can forecast failure be avoided? Concepts are illustrated using real-world examples including financial crises, the uncertainty of Brexit, and the Federal Reserve’s record on forecasting. This is an ideal introduction for university students studying forecasting, practitioners new to the field and for general readers interested in how economists forecast.

The goals of this text are to develop the skills and an appreciation for the richness and versatility of modern time series analysis as a tool for analyzing dependent data. A useful feature of the presentation is the inclusion of nontrivial data sets illustrating the richness of potential applications to problems in the biological, physical, and social sciences as well as medicine. The text presents a balanced and comprehensive treatment of both time and frequency domain methods with an emphasis on data analysis. Numerous examples using data illustrate solutions to problems such as discovering natural and anthropogenic climate change, evaluating pain perception experiments using functional magnetic resonance imaging, and the analysis of economic and financial problems. The text can be used for a one semester/quarter introductory time series course where the prerequisites are an understanding of linear regression, basic calculus-based probability skills, and math skills at the high school level. All of the numerical examples use the R statistical package without assuming that the reader has previously used the software. Robert H. Shumway is Professor Emeritus of Statistics, University of California, Davis. He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and has won the American Statistical Association Award for Outstanding Statistical Application. He is the author of numerous texts and served on editorial boards such as the Journal of Forecasting and the Journal of the American Statistical Association. David S. Stoffer is Professor of Statistics, University of Pittsburgh. He is a Fellow of the American Statistical Association and has won the American Statistical Association Award for Outstanding Statistical Application. He is currently on the editorial boards of the Journal of Forecasting, the Annals of Statistical Mathematics, and the Journal of Time Series Analysis. He served as a Program Director in the Division of Mathematical Sciences at the National Science Foundation and as an Associate Editor for the Journal of the American Statistical Association and the Journal of Business & Economic Statistics.

This handbook summarises knowledge from experts and empirical studies. It provides guidelines that can be applied in fields such as economics, sociology, and psychology. Includes a comprehensive forecasting dictionary.