what is statistical inferences?

Masterofbooksdirected

6 years ago

Inference, in statistics, the process of drawing conclusions about
a parameter one is seeking to measure or estimate. Often
scientists have many measurements of an object—say, the mass
of an electron—and wish to choose the best measure. One
principal approach of statistical inference is Bayesian estimation ,
which incorporates reasonable expectations or prior judgments
(perhaps based on previous studies), as well as new
observations or experimental results. Another method is the
likelihood approach, in which “prior probabilities” are eschewed
in favour of calculating a value of the parameter that would be
most “likely” to produce the observed distribution of
experimental outcomes.
In parametric inference, a particular mathematical form of the
distribution function is assumed. Nonparametric inference avoids
this assumption and is used to estimate parameter values of an
unknown distribution having an unknown functional form.