さまざまな指標によって、今後の経済の__________を探ろうとしている。
• 傾向• 動向• 指向• 意向
English: "I'm trying to find out the future trend of the economy through various indicators."
Key vocabulary:
指標（しひょう）- indicator
経済（けいざい）- economy
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意向（いこう）- intention, wish
e.g 政府は減税の意向を明言した。- The government has declared its intention to reduce taxes.
指向（しこう）- point towards
e.g 負傷した兵士たちを安全な地域へ指向した。- The injured soldiers pointed themselves towards the safety of home.
傾向（けいこう）- tendency, trend
A trend is moving/changing in present time.
e.g 物価は上昇傾向にある。- Prices are on the upward trend.
動向（どうこう） - tendency, trend
A trend will move/change in the future - something we can guess based on the present.
e.g 日本の最新動向について報告したいと思います。- I would like to report the latest trends in Japan.
e.g 政治面での問題の動向をシミュレートします。- Simulate the trend in issues on the political front.
傾向 and 動向 are very, very similar and might seem almost indistinguishable. However there is a trick to working them out.
The clue in this question is in 今後 "future". This implies the "trend" will happen in the future, based on our current understanding of events. Which means 動向 should be used, not 傾向 (which reflects a trend or change that's happening now.)
Some other clues that 動向 should be used would be verbs like 推測する and 予測する.
