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A trend can be characterized as a new behavior pattern
or belief that gradually develops during a specific
period. The trend period can cover a few years or
hundreds of thousands. It can begin as a thought or
an idea of a few persons and expand as time goes by
of greater numbers of people. Certain trends affect
development locally or within a special limited area,
while other trends can have consequences for the whole
world. They can be social, technical/scientific,
economic, ecologic, politic or demographic.
In order to identify and chart trends in a credible
way an exhaustive environmental scanning (information
collection) over long, coherent time periods is necessary.
Sometimes the structure of the scanning has to do
with one or several specific areas, for example, when
a company wishes to follow development in their field,
Scanning can also occur with a broader prerogative
of a community or country's future. One can also look
at societal or natural characteristics such as the
future of work, family structure, energy, sustainability
or the weather or fish populations. In order to fully
see the possibilities the future holds, one must look
at trends in a wide variety of fields (or variables)
in order to determine those which are the most likely
to affect the future of ones subject.
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