Interpreting data from Time series - TSN

Task goals

• Read a specific value at a given time point directly off a time series graph.
• Describe the long-term trend in a full sentence using increasing/decreasing language (never positive/negative), and calculate the amount or percentage change along it.
• Identify seasonality from a graph, including the length of one full cycle and the peak/trough months or quarters.
• Identify a noise point that doesn't fit the surrounding pattern, and distinguish genuine noise from the start of a new trend by checking whether later points resume the original pattern.
• Read a dashed trend/prediction line to make a basic numeric prediction, and explain why such predictions can be inaccurate.
• Recognise when strong seasonality masks an underlying trend, by comparing same-period values (e.g. this Q1 vs. last Q1) across cycles.