BCSSS

International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics

2nd Edition, as published by Charles François 2004 Presented by the Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science Vienna for public access.

About

The International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics was first edited and published by the system scientist Charles François in 1997. The online version that is provided here was based on the 2nd edition in 2004. It was uploaded and gifted to the center by ASC president Michael Lissack in 2019; the BCSSS purchased the rights for the re-publication of this volume in 200?. In 2018, the original editor expressed his wish to pass on the stewardship over the maintenance and further development of the encyclopedia to the Bertalanffy Center. In the future, the BCSSS seeks to further develop the encyclopedia by open collaboration within the systems sciences. Until the center has found and been able to implement an adequate technical solution for this, the static website is made accessible for the benefit of public scholarship and education.

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MOVING AVERAGES 2)

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"A flexible mathematical method of smoothing statistical data"(E. Dewey & E. Dakin, 1952, p. 248)

This smoothing process is of great interest for a better understanding of the fundamental evolving trends in growth curves.

The authors give the example of a 2 year moving average applied to a collection of annual data. For instance, it can be done in a progressive way by adding series of 4 successive yearly totals and dividing the result by 4. Thereafer, pairing the results and dividing them by 2, the most extreme fluctuations of the base data are smoothed.

The authors state"… a moving average has no effect on the period or length of the series being averaged. But it does have an effect upon the amplitude of the waves"(p. 251)

Moving averages eliminate the appearent general randomness of data and show the basic rhythms of the process under study.

Categories

  • 1) General information
  • 2) Methodology or model
  • 3) Epistemology, ontology and semantics
  • 4) Human sciences
  • 5) Discipline oriented

Publisher

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science(2020).

To cite this page, please use the following information:

Bertalanffy Center for the Study of Systems Science (2020). Title of the entry. In Charles François (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics (2). Retrieved from www.systemspedia.org/[full/url]

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