Final answer:
Prospective and retrospective analytics are the two data analytics categories that use historical data to predict future trends and analyze past patterns, respectively. They are essential for strategic planning in fields like sociology, economics, and education.
Step-by-step explanation:
The two categories of data analytics that look to the future and use data from the past are prospective and retrospective analytics. Prospective analytics involve predictions and forecasting, using historical data to make informed guesses about future trends and occurrences. Retrospective analytics, on the other hand, look back at past data to identify patterns, trends, and outcomes that have already occurred. This analysis can be crucial for fields like sociology or in business where understanding consumer behavior and societal changes can lead to better decision-making. Both methods offer valuable insights that can drive strategic planning and policy-making in various research areas beyond biomedical research, including education, economics, and social change initiatives.