Final answer:
Based on a sample average height of 5 feet 9 inches of male high school students, one might infer a similar average for the population, but without standard deviation and representation details, any inference is tentative.
Heights typically follow a normal distribution, with standard deviation being crucial for reliable inferences.
Step-by-step explanation:
The average height of 100 male high school students was found to be 5 feet 9 inches. To make an inference about the average height of all male high school students in the country, statisticians would typically use this sample mean as an estimator for the population mean, given that the sample is random and representative.
However, without information about the standard deviation, the sample size of the total population, and whether the sample is truly representative, any inference would be tentative.
When considering the heights of people, including students, it's understood that height follows a normal distribution. The standard deviation is a crucial factor in determining the reliability of inferences made about the population.
For example, if we knew that the standard deviation for male high school students' height is 2.5 inches, as in some studies, we could calculate confidence intervals to estimate the mean height of the entire population with a known level of confidence.