What is the difference between forecasting and prediction?
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Both of these terms look similar
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Answers ( 21 )
Forecasting and Prediction are two different things.
You always forecast weather, but never predict the weather.
Forecasting is nothing but a extrapolation of the past. You have some historic data, and you plotted it on the co-ordinate and extrapolated it for the future. This is forecasting
Prediction is subjective, it refers to an upcoming event which might or might not happen in the future.
Remember – Any one can do a prediction.
Ex. Sachin will hit a century tomorrow. You predict which might be based on a deep analysis or could just be a simple shot in the dark.
Therefore all the forecasting are prediction but not all the predictions are forecasting.
A forecast refers to a calculation or an estimation which uses data from previous events, combined with recent trends to come up a future event outcome.
On the other hand, a prediction is an actual act of indicating that something will happen in the future with or without prior information.
In short, all forecasts are predictions but not all predictions are forecasts. Anyone can do a prediction since it does not require any special skills but for one to do forecasting he/she requires special skills.
Accuracy
A Forecast is more accurate compared to a prediction. This is because forecasts are derived by analyzing a set of past data from the past and presents trends. The analysis helps in coming up with a model that is scientifically backed and the probability of it being wrong are minimal.
On the other hand, a prediction can be right or wrong. For example, if you predict the outcome of a football match, the result depends on how well the teams played no matter their recent performance or players.
Application
Forecasts are only applicable in the economic and meteorology field where there is a lot of information about the subject matter. When it comes to weather forecasting, meteorologist uses collected data such as wind speeds, temperatures, humidity to forecast future weather pattern. The same case applies to economics where current trends and previous performances are used to develop models which generate forecasts.
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On the contrary, prediction can be applied anywhere as long as there is an expected future outcome.
Bias
Forecasting uses mathematical formulas and as a result, they are free from personal as well as intuition bias. On the other hand, predictions are in most cases subjective and fatalistic in nature.
For example, if you are predicting the result between two teams, and then you happen to be a supporter of one team, there will be some bias. But this is not the case for scientific methods since they have a way of eliminating bias and enhancing the accuracy of the forecast.
Read more: Difference Between Forecasting and Prediction | Difference Between http://www.differencebetween.net/science/difference-between-forecasting-and-prediction/#ixzz6OaUblb8K
difference between forecasting and prediction
forecasting is descriptive analysis it means we describe the pattern form the row data but we not predict future event in in other-hand prediction we predict the future event.
Prediction: A Prediction is often based on experience and knowledge. It means a random event. The need of prediction arises when the past sales trend is not available. For example- Launch of a new product which was not available in the market.
Forecasting- Forecasting is of two types- Qualitative and Quantitative.
Qualitative involves use of expert judgement, e
Example: new product launch where similar kind of products are already available in the market.
Quantitative methods can be used when past information about the variable being forecast is available. The information can be quantified.
Forecasting is a process of predicting or estimating future events based on past and present data and most commonly by analysis of trends. “Guessing” doesn’t cut it.
A forecast is scientific and free from intuition and personal bias, whereas prediction is subjective and fatalistic in nature.
For example, we could use forecasting to predict how many customers calls Phil, our product evangelist is likely to receive the next day. Or how many product demos he’ll lead over the next week. The data from previous years are already available in our CRM, and it can help us accurately predict and anticipate future sales and marketing events where Phil may be needed.
Predicting is saying or telling something before the event while forecasting is done on the basis of the analysis of the past.
Predictive modeling could help identify customers who are likely to purchase our new One AI software over the next 90 days.
Forecasting is mostly associated with immediate next values in a series like inventory for next month, stock price for next day etc. Mostly deals with time series data.
Prediction is about learning from the patterns in the past and estimating future events like default or not or estimating price of some quantity
in simple terms , forecasting is done using data and in exact terms using data to predict the future where prediction can be done by anyone it doesn’t involve usage of data
There is a fine line that differs forecasting from prediction. We can say forecasting is a subdiscipline of prediction
Prediction is concerned with estimating the outcomes for unseen data. For this purpose, you fit a model to a training data set, which results in an estimator that can make predictions for new samples.
Forecasting is a sub-discipline of prediction in which we are making predictions about the future, on the basis of time-series data.
Thus, the only difference between prediction and forecasting is that we consider the time dimension.
For example:
Why weather forecasting is not called weather prediction: weather forecasting predicts the weather in the future using time information. For example, if there is a downpour at the moment, what is the likelihood that it will still rain in five minutes? The likelihood that it will still rain in five minutes will be high because it is raining at the moment.
imagine that we would perform weather prediction rather than forecasting. This would mean we were to ignore any temporal dimension and just consider the other physical features that influence the weather. Imagine that is still raining outside. Oddly the atmospheric pressure i quite high, which is associated with clear skies. So, when you are asking your prediction model to estimate whether it is currently raining, the model would probably respond that it is unlikely to rain due to the high atmospheric pressure.
Forecast is more appropriate when one deals with time series data. its nothing but a “time” based prediction. The other ” Prediction” is not necessarily time based but based on factors that influence a dependent variable which may be causal factors or correlation factors.
Both prediction and forecast take into account past data.
A forecast refers to an estimation that uses historical data (from previous events) combined with recent trends to come up with a FUTURE event/outcome.
A prediction tries to explain a possible event/outcome (FUTURE, CURRENT, OR PAST) with or without any prior information.
Forecasting would be a subset of Prediction meaning all forecasts are predictions but not all predictions are forecasts. Forecasts essentially need a “time” component whereas predictions do not.
Forecasting is a technique that takes data and predicts the future value for the data looking at its unique trends. For example – predicting average annual company turnover based on data from 10+ years prior.
On the other hand, a prediction is an actual act of indicating that something will happen in the future with or without prior information.
In short, all forecasts are predictions but not all predictions are forecasts
Now, what is predictive analytics?
Predictive analysis factors in a variety of inputs and predicts future behaviour – not just a number. For example – out of this same employee group, which of these employees are most likely to leave (turnover = the output), based on analyzing past employee data and identifying the indicators (input) that often proceed the output. Unlike forecasting which is usually time series, here you use several input variables to arrive at an output variable.
Sorry it a private answer.
Sorry it a private answer.
Forecast is scientific and free from intuition and personal bias, whereas prediction is subjective and fatalistic in nature.
Forecasting is an extrapolation of past into the future while prediction is judgmental and takes into account changes taking place in the future. Therefore, prediction is utilized more in business and economics while forecasting takes place in weather and earthquakes.
Predicting is saying or telling something before the event while forecasting is done on the basis of analysis of the past.
Forecasting is still not a complete science as there are chances of error.
On the basis of meaning:
Forecasting is basically a calculation or an estimation which uses data from previous events, combined with recent trends to come up with a future event outcome. For ex: Meteorologists always forecast weather. They do not predict weather.
Prediction is basically an act of indicating that something will happen in the future with or without prior information. For ex: Astrologers always predict. They do not forecast (No offence, with all due respect).
On the basis of accuracy:
Forecasting is more accurate. Prediction is less accurate.
Applications:
Forecasting is used in meteorology, financial sectors, economis etc mostly.
Prediction can be applied everywhere.
Forecasting has no bias but lots of calculation. Prediction has a bias.
This is basically the difference between Forecasting and Prediction in simple terms.
Forecasting: It is a process in which we are estimating the future based on past and present data.
For example: How much passenger can we expect in a given flight.
Prediction: A prediction is a statement which tries to explain a “possible outcome or future event”.
For example: Who are the customers who are likely to buy a product in a next month.
Prediction : Predicting a value, it basically means that something will occur/happen in the future without prior information It tries to explain every possible event. example how many people will likely to use particular service next month.
Whereas Forecasting is based on time like predicting a value based on past and present data and it is much more accurate than prediction. example stock market, weather forecasting.
– Forecasting is scientific and is free from any personal bias. Prediction is just a “guessing” of what will happen in the future without using any scientific or mathematical methods.
– Anyone can make a prediction and not anyone can forecast.
– Forecasting is the extrapolation of the past into the future while prediction takes into account the changes taking place int he future.
Prediction is mostly used in business and economics while forecasting is mostly used in weather and earthquakes.
All predictions are forecasting but all forecastings are not predictions.
Forecastings are more accurate than predictions, although there are still chances of error.
– Forecasting is scientific and is free from any personal bias. Prediction is just a “guessing” of what will happen in the future without using any scientific or mathematical methods.
– Anyone can make a prediction and not anyone can forecast.
– Forecasting is the extrapolation of the past into the future while prediction takes into account the changes taking place int he future.
Prediction is mostly used in business and economics while forecasting is mostly used in weather and earthquakes.
All predictions are forecasting but all forecastings are not predictions.
Forecastings are more accurate than predictions, although there are still chances of error.
Prediction : Predicting a value, it basically means that something will occur/happen in the future without prior information It tries to explain every possible event. example how many people will likely to use particular service next month.
Whereas Forecasting is based on time like predicting a value based on past and present data and it is much more accurate than prediction. example stock market, weather forecasting.
The major difference between forecasting and prediction is … Forecasting is always associated with time series data and prediction is finding patterns in the data you have at present and predicting the future.