Business Intelligence Exam Practice 2025 – Complete Prep Guide

Descriptive analytics and predictive analytics serve different purposes in the realm of data analysis. Descriptive analytics is primarily concerned with summarizing and interpreting past data to highlight trends, patterns, and insights into what has already occurred. This may involve using statistical measures or reporting tools to provide a comprehensive overview of historical performance, which helps organizations understand their operational history.

On the other hand, predictive analytics takes this a step further by utilizing historical data and applying statistical algorithms and machine learning techniques to forecast future events or outcomes. Through this process, organizations can anticipate trends and potential issues based on past behaviors and data patterns.

The distinction provided by the correct answer underscores the fundamental difference in focus between the two types of analytics: one is retrospective while the other is prospective. Descriptive analytics provides the “what happened” scenario, while predictive analytics offers insight into “what is likely to happen” based on previous occurrences.