These methods are usually applied in economics to quantify qualitative inflation expectations collected through surveys (e.g. consumer surveys). However, the same approaches can be used to quantify any qualitative expectation about the change of a variable that is quantitative in nature.
The four functions of the package -- cp
for the Carlson-Parkin method, ra
for the regression approach, bal
for the balance approach and ce
for the conditional expectations method -- allow the user to customize a wide range of parameters and make use of certain extensions of the original methods. Apart from that all the functions deliver per default two versions of quantified expectations: one under the assumption that the survey respondents form expectations over the absolute change of the variable in question and one under the assumption of expectations over the relative change. The functions also provide the user with standard measures for the forecast quality of the quantified expectations enabling the user to quickly assess the effect of a change in the quantification method used.
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Henzel, S./Wollmershaeuser, T. (2005), Quantifying inflation expectations with the Carlson-Parkin method: A survey-based determination of the just noticeable difference, Journal of Business Cycle Measurement and Analysis 2, 321--352.
Nardo, M. (2003), The quantification of qualitative survey data: a critical assessment, Journal of Economic Surveys 17 (5), 645--668.
Pesaran, M. (1984), Expectations formation and macroeconomic modelling, in: Malgrange, M. (1984), Contemporary macroeconomic modelling, 27--55.
Zuckarelli, J. (2015): A new method for quantification of qualitative expectations, Economics and Business Letters 3(5), Special Issue Energy demand forecasting, 123-128.