Questionnaire for Consultants on Forecasting Principles
(January 1, 2006)
We would like to make it easy for practitioners to contact consultants. Information about consultants would be posted on of the Forecastingprinciples.com site can be directed to you from various locations on the site, but most importantly, from the “Selection Tree” ( In addition, we will provide a listing by name. Your listing will remain there as long as you are a member of the IIF or until you ask that it be removed.
If you are interested in offering your consulting services, please complete this survey by putting x’s on the underlined response slots, then return it to Pamela Stroud, Business Manager of the IIF, preferably by electronic format: or by mail to Pamela Stroud, Business Manager, IIF, 53 Tesla Avenue, Medford, MA 02155.
A. Are you available for (check all that are relevant):
___ fee-based consulting?
___ grant applications?
___ as an expert witness?
B. Primary areas/industries/markets where you have had forecasting experience (put an x on all that are relevant)
___ Advertising, effects of
___ Agriculture
___ Construction and housing
___ Crime
___ Design of products and services
___ Durable goods
___ Education (e.g., school enrollments)
___ Election
___ Energy
___ Environmental
___ Exchange rates
___ Fast-moving consumer goods
___ Finance and accounting
___ Government revenue
___ Industry
___ Insurance
___ Interest rates
___ Labor markets
___ Legal
___ Macroeconomic
___ Manpower
___ Market prices
___ Market share
___ Medical
___ Military
___ New products
___ Personnel
___ Pharmaceuticals
___ Political
___ Population
___ Price, effects of
___ Production and inventory control
___ Production costs
___ Project completion times and costs
___ Promotions
___ Public opinion
___ Public policy
___ Real estate
___ Resources
___ Sales
___ Site location
___ Sports and entertainment
___ Stock prices
___ Supply chain
___ Technology
___ Telecommunications
___ Transportation
___ Weather
___ Other: Specify ______
C. Add details about each of the above areas if you care to. Users would be directed to your files to learn more about your expertise, so please relate your descriptions to these areas.
D. Please specify those methods on which you specialize (check all that are relevant). The system will be tied to a decision support system that will help people select forecasting methods. The numbers correspond to the section numbers in the Principles of Forecasting Handbook.
- .____ Role playing (formal acting with key parties in roles)
- ____ Intentions (or expectations; how will someone behave)
- ____ Expert opinions (judgments about how others will behave)
- ____ Conjoint analysis (statistical models of consumers’ intentions)
- ____ Judgmental bootstrapping (inferred models of forecasters)
- ____ Analogies (experts’ use of analogies when making judgments)
- ____ Extrapolation (using data only on the variable of interest; statistical time series)
- ____ Rule-based forecasting (formal use of domain knowledge in extrapolation)
- ____ Expert systems (formal models based on the way experts make forecasts)
- ____ Econometric models
- ____ Selecting forecasting methods (how to select methods for a situation)
- ____ Integrating, adjusting, and combining procedures for forecasts
- ____ Evaluating forecasting methods (how to determine the best methods)
- ____ Assessing uncertainty (prediction intervals)
- ____ Gaining acceptance of forecasts (helping people to use forecasts)
- ____ Monitoring forecasts (how to ensure that the forecasting system is working)
- ____ Application of forecasting software
- ____ Organizational aspects (diffusion of forecasting methods)
E. Description of your expertise on the above mentioned methods, as you like. You can also link to your website. [Users will see your description if they click on your name, so it is best if you can relate the comments to the methods.]
F. Expertise on principles. Check the principles in the list below on which you are able to consult. For a brief description of these areas, see
For a more complete description, see
Check all those that are relevant [This will be tied to the decision support system for the audit that we provide on the site to help people implement principles.]
- ____ Setting objectives for the forecasting problem
- ____ Structuring the forecasting problem
- ____ Identifying information sources
- ____ Collecting data (procedure to ensure proper collection; e.g., survey research)
- ____ Preparing data for use in the forecasting models (e.g., seasonality adjustments)
- ____ Selecting forecasting methods (how to select methods that fit the situation)
- ____ Implementing methods: General (procedures for using forecasting methods)
- ____ Implementing methods: Judgment
- ____ Implementing methods: Quantitative
- ____ Implementing methods: Quantitative models with explanatory variables
- ____ Integrating judgmental and quantitative methods
- ____ Combining forecasts
- ____ Evaluating methods (how to determine which methods are best)
- ____ Assessing uncertainty (prediction intervals)
- ____ Presenting forecasts to decision makers (so that they are properly used)
- ____ Learning how to improve the organization’s forecasting procedures
G. Description of your expertise on principles. You can also link to further descriptions on your website. [Users will see this description when they click on your name, so it will help them if you relate your description to the principles.] For example, if you checked #4, you might have experience in designing internet surveys, or if #5, you might know how to best treat outliers)
H. Keywords for your expertise in forecasting methods (in addition to those already mentioned). A search for keywords can help users to find you.
I. Constraints (Things you will not do as a consultant; optional):
PLEASE PRINT
Name: ______
e-mail address: ______
mailing address: ______
telephone: ______
website: ______
Resume (in PDF or with a link to your website): ______