Which analytics type forecasts what might happen in the future?

Which analytics type forecasts what might happen in the future?

• A. Descriptive
• B. Predictive
• C. Diagnostic
• D. Prescriptive

Answer: (B)

Predictive analytics focuses on forecasting future outcomes by analyzing patterns in historical data. It builds models—using methods like regression, time-series analysis, or machine learning—to estimate what could happen next and with what probability. This is precisely what the question asks: predicting future possibilities. By contrast, descriptive analytics looks at what happened in the past, diagnostic analytics explains why something happened, and prescriptive analytics suggests actions to take to influence future results. So when the goal is to forecast future events, predictive analytics is the best fit.

Predictive analytics focuses on forecasting future outcomes by analyzing patterns in historical data. It builds models—using methods like regression, time-series analysis, or machine learning—to estimate what could happen next and with what probability. This is precisely what the question asks: predicting future possibilities. By contrast, descriptive analytics looks at what happened in the past, diagnostic analytics explains why something happened, and prescriptive analytics suggests actions to take to influence future results. So when the goal is to forecast future events, predictive analytics is the best fit.