What does a 'trend' in data indicate?

A 'trend' in data indicates a consistent pattern over time, highlighting how values in a dataset change in a systematic way. Trends are essential for understanding data as they can reveal underlying patterns, provide insights on the direction of the data over a period, and help stakeholders make informed decisions.

For example, a sales report may show a consistent increase in sales over several months, indicating a positive trend that could help in forecasting future sales and guiding inventory and marketing strategies.

While unexpected data points, random fluctuations, and singular events can be interesting in their own right, they do not reflect ongoing patterns in the data like a trend does. These other aspects may represent anomalies or one-off occurrences, but they do not demonstrate the sustained behavior over time that characterizes a trend.