Forbes Standards Practice Test

Understanding why something happened is the goal of diagnostic analytics. It digs into data to uncover the reasons behind an outcome, looking for contributing factors, relationships, and patterns that explain the result. By drilling into data, comparing different groups or time periods, and testing hypotheses about what changed, diagnostic analytics reveals root causes and clarifies how various elements interacted to produce what was observed. Descriptive analytics tells you what happened, summarizing past data. Predictive analytics uses historical patterns to forecast what might happen in the future. Prescriptive analytics suggests actions to influence future outcomes. But when the question asks for why, diagnostic analytics is the one that focuses on uncovering the causal explanations behind outcomes.