"The pluses and minuses have evened out, " said John Pitkin, a demographer with private consultancy Analysis and Forecasting, Inc. in Cambridge, Mass.

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The gender gap is actually smallest in retirement preparedness, which requires such skills as strategic planning, short-term and long-range forecasting, and analysis of multiple variables.

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Separate research departments bring a variety of economic theories, analysis, forecasting techniques, and conclusions to the FOMC table.

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Admittedly, forecasting and cost-benefit analysis on big, long-term projects such as this amount to little more than complicated guesswork.

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As a result, they can do what-if analysis, model data, and run sophisticated data mining and forecasting algorithms that return answers within minutes, enabling them to fine-tune and refine their offers and service bundles to accurately reflect the needs of their subscribers.

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Objective Analysis has been forecasting a mid-2013 turnaround since 2009, and has racked up a very impressive record for forecast accuracy.

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His system for forecasting the entire bracket uses survival analysis, a method for predicting failure in systems, and gives Florida a 15.7% chance of winning the whole thing, also the best of any team.

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Its tools bring together forecasting data gathered from operational administration sources, and merges them for further review and analysis by corporate managers, giving them better data to weigh before allocating resources to a given business initiative.

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