answersLogoWhite

0

What is moving average?

Updated: 10/23/2022
User Avatar

Wiki User

12y ago

Best Answer

Some variables have a strong "seasonal" variation. The word seasonal is in quotation marks because in this context it only means periodic variation rather than climatic seasons. For example, your body temperature has a 24-hour period, sales from a down town store may have a weekly period since there may be fewer office workers at weekends, ice cream sales at a seaside resort may have a seasonal variation because of a greater number of visitors in the summer. In such circumstances, looking at month to month changes in the variable are not very useful: they may simply be a result of the seasonality.

One statistical method to deal with this is to use the moving average. The data are averaged over a period whose length is the same as the periodicity of the data, and these are calculated for overlapping periods.


Thus, for data with a weekly cycle, you would calculate averages for Monday to the following Sunday, Tuesday to Monday, Wed to Tue, and so on. At each stage, you drop the first period from the previous average and add the next period at the end. These data are seasonally adjusted and are better for studying the underlying trend.

User Avatar

Wiki User

8y ago
This answer is:
User Avatar

Add your answer:

Earn +20 pts
Q: What is moving average?
Write your answer...
Submit
Still have questions?
magnify glass
imp
Continue Learning about Math & Arithmetic

How do you use moving average method in forecasting?

Moving averages are used to find the trend and seasonal variations in a set of sales figures which can then be used to forecast sales figures: Moving averages are used in time series analysis where there are various factors which can affect how sales occur: Seasonal variations, long-term trend, cyclical variations and random variations. To see the underlying trend, the mean average of several periods (eg 4 quarters) is used, The moving average is calculated as the mean average of the set of periods. Then the next moving average is the mean average calculated by dropping the value of the first period and using the value of the next period after the last one previously used; and so on. If there is an odd number of periods in each of these moving averages, the moving average will align with the middle value used and is the trend value for those periods. If there is an even number of periods in each moving average, the moving averages will occur between two periods and so the mean average of each pair of moving average must be taken to find the trend values, which will then align with the figure after the middle of the periods. For example, using a moving average with 4 quarters: Year 1 qtr 1 Year 1 qtr 2 ____________ moving average 1 of y1q1 to y1q4 Year 1 qtr 3 _____________________________________ mean average of ma1 and ma2 ____________ moving average 2 of y1q2 to y2q1 Year 1 qtr 4 _____________________________________ mean average of ma2 and ma3 ____________ moving average 3 of y1q3 to y2q2 Year 2 qtr 1 _____________________________________ mean average of ma3 and ma4 ____________ moving average 4 of y1q4 to y2q3 Year 2 qtr 2 _____________________________________ mean average of ma4 and ma5 ____________ moving average 5 of y2q1 to y2q4 Year 2 qtr 3 _____________________________________ mean average of ma5 and ma6 ____________ moving average 6 of y2q2 to y3q1 Year 2 qtr 4 with: moving average 1 of y1q1 to y1q4: ma1 = (y1q1 + y1q2 + y1q3 + y1q4) ÷ 4 moving average 2 of y1q2 to y2q1: ma2 = (y1q2 + y1q3 + y1q4 + y2q1) ÷ 4 etc. mean average of ma1 and ma2 : trend1 = (ma1 + ma2) ÷ 2 mean average of ma2 and ma3 : trend2 = (ma2 + ma3) ÷ 2 etc. Using regression the line of best fit is found for the trend figures calculated from the moving averages above. By subtracting the trend values from the actual values (with which they align) the seasonal variation for each period can be calculated. With the trend line and the seasonal variations forecasts can now be made by extrapolating the trend line and adding on the relevant seasonal variation. In the above example, the year 3 quarter 1 sales can be forecast by using the trend line to find the trend value for y3q1 and then adding in the seasonal variation for q1 (which can be found at year 2 quarter 1 in value trend3). Note that seasonal variations can be negative so adding in a negative value will reduce the forecast figure.


Why is average speed called average speed?

Average speed is called average speed because it represents an average speed of something over a distance. Avarage could be thought of as a way to "even out" speed over a distance to see how fast an object was moving across that distance if it moved at a constant speed.An average speed takes into account stops and restarts as well as changes in speed of an object over the distance under consideration. The moving object might be moving faster at some points and slower at others. The object might stop and then resume traveling. All these things are "evened out" by average speed.A car taking a group to an eatery across town will start and stop as well as change speed across the distance. By dividing the distance by the travel time, we get the average speed that a car moving at a constant velocity would travel at to make the trip.


If a car starts from rest and after 6 seconds it is moving at 42 ms what is the car's average acceleration?

If a car is moving 42 meters per second after 6 sectons, the average acceletion is 7 meters per second per second. It is an average, given two points of data, and it is not the instantaneous acceleration at any point in time.


What is an average of the velocity of 5.2?

If the average velocity is 5.2 m/sec. then it means that the moving object undergoes a displacement of 5.2m in a time interval of 1 sec. along a particular direction. If the average velocity is 5.2 km/hr. then it means that the moving object undergoes a displacement of 5.2km in a time interval of 1 hr. along a particular direction. Thus depending upon the unit used, the description will be different.


Total distance divided by the time taken in is an object's speed?

The total distance by the total time of a moving object is the average speed of the object. If the moving object is a train that makes a few stops along its route, it will have some kind of average speed associated with its journey. An investigator will find the average speed by dividing the total distance it traveled by the total time that has elapses since it left point A to get to point B.

Related questions

What is a moving average?

What is a moving average?


How do you determine how many observations to average in a moving average model?

The period value determines how many observations to average in a moving average model. Moving average is not a real piece of data but a comparison for forecast and valuation.


What is a twenty moving average pertaining to the the stock market?

Unless it is customized, the twenty moving average usually refers to time. The time that it refers to is the 20 day moving average, of a given stock.


Can average speed of a moving object be zerogive an example?

No, it can't. Average VELOCITY can be zero, though.


What are dema?

A DEMA is a fast-acting moving average, which is more responsive to market changes than the traditional moving average.


How do you calculate trend by moving average?

well this depends on what moving average you are using. for example if a stick is above its 200 simple moving average (a very important time frame) you can saftly say it is in an uptrend (careful it could always reverse trends). Moving averages can be use for trading to. for short term trading like swing and day trading you should look at smaller moving averages like the 10 period, and 50 period, which are widely used. Caution! remember there are 2 moving averages in trading, a simple moving average and an exponential moving average, make sure you have the right one.


Can average velocity of moving body be zero?

Yes; for example, an object moving in a circle.


Why is moving-average method useful?

abrar


Why is moving average method useful?

abrar


Can you use average speed to calculate the speed of an object that is moving at a constant speed?

Yes. If an object is moving at a constant speed the average speed and the constant speed are the same.


What is a four point moving average?

four point moving average....take the first four points, average them, and put the point above the last of the four. now take the next four (by moving one along) and take that average...so for example.. a set of numbers: 4 5 6 5 4 5 the average for 4, 5, 6, 5 is 5, (move one along) the average for 5, 6, 5, 4 is 5, (move one along) the average of 6, 5, 4, 5 is 5. that's a moving average.


Can Microsoft Excel find moving average?

Yes it can. Say you have you values listed from cell A2 to A20, then in B2 you could enter the following formula and copy it down and it would get your moving average: =AVERAGE(A2:A$2)