مقاله سال ۲۰۱۶

Modelling is a simplified and usually mathematical representation of a process or a system to support decision-making or to simply understand the actual situation better. In terms of the purpose of the modelling exercise, models can be categorised into three types: descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive.

Descriptive models provide insight into the past including what happened, and more usefully, why it might have happened. Such models usually constitute a base-case that can be used as a benchmark to make and test suggested improvements.

Predictive models are aimed at understanding the future including what could happen given what we know about a system. Regression is one of the well-known predictive models along with time series forecasting models that are used to predict the future behaviour of a variable of interest. These predictive models represent what could happen in the future, rather than what should be done to reach a desirable outcome, which is addressed by prescriptive models.