Time Series Analysis

In some applications, researchers collect longitudinal data for one or more subjects over a (usually) extended period of time. In the field of economics, for example, the federal government of the United States measures the nation’s gross domestic product every month, creating a long longitudinal record of gross domestic product over time. Similarly, meteorologists record measurements on temperature and rainfall, monitoring every day at stations around the world. Again, the resulting data set contains a great many measurements taken over a long period of time for each of these stations. Psychologists [Page 1702]may collect such time series data in the form of diary entries in which participants are asked to record the number of times that they have certain thoughts or engage in specific behaviors ...