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Double Exponential Smoothing

Smooth and forecast a series that has a trend, using Holt's method.

Where to find it

QXL Stat Tools → Analysis Tools → Time Series → Double Exponential Smoothing

What it does

Double exponential smoothing tracks two components as it walks through the series: the current level and the current trend. Each new observation updates both, weighted by the two smoothing constants. Because it carries a trend component, it follows trending data better than a moving average and can project forecasts forward.

Options

The dialog is Time Series Smoothing, with a Data tab and an Options tab.

Data tab

  • Excel / GroupBy: analyze flat Excel columns, or split by one or more GroupBy columns
  • Data Columns: one or more numeric columns; each produces its own analysis
  • Overlay Datasets on a Single Chart: combine the selected series into one chart

Options tab (Double Exp Smoothing Options)

  • Level (Alpha): smoothing constant for the level. Default 0.2; allowed 0 to 1 (entries outside the range are clamped). Larger values react faster to changes but smooth less.
  • Trend (Gamma): smoothing constant for the trend. Default 0.2; allowed 0 to 1.
  • Number of Forecasts: how many periods to forecast past the data. Default 0; must be 0 or more.

Output

A worksheet named DblExp ... containing:

  • A line chart with the Actual, Fitted, and (when forecasting) Forecast series over the observation Index
  • A data table with Index, Actual, Smooth, Predicted, Error columns
  • An Accuracy Measures table with MAPE, MAD, and MSD

See Also