Question

Tamara analyzes data from 300 randomly selected schoolchildren throughout the state of wisconsin and finds that children from wealthy families are more likely to receive extra help from teachers than children from poor families. When asked by a reporter, tamara claims her findings actually describe the entire population of schoolchildren in wisconsin. This is an example of __________.

Answer 1

Tamara analyzes data from 300 randomly selected schoolchildren throughout the state of Wisconsin and finds that children from wealthy families are more likely to receive extra help from teachers than children from poor families. When asked by a reporter, Tamara claims her findings actually describe the entire population of schoolchildren in Wisconsin. This is an example of statistical inference.

Answer 2

This is an example of statistical inference.

Inference tries to reach conclusions for an entire population by observing data from a sample. In order to do so, is important that the sample has been randomly selected from the population it represents, to avoid biases that might lead to wrong conclusions.