Descriptive and Inferential Statistics

Start with the distinction

This page brings together user-made resources on descriptive and inferential statistics. A mind map titled Statistics contrasts organizing and presenting sample data with drawing conclusions about populations from sample information. It also introduces populations and samples, making it a useful starting point for the vocabulary that appears elsewhere on the page.

Read the map once for the overall distinction, then look again at how it connects sample data and populations. You can use those connections as a guide when working through the flashcards and quiz.

Build the vocabulary

The introductory flashcard decks cover terms such as population, sample, parameter, statistic and variable. One deck also includes quantitative and qualitative data, along with nominal, ordinal and interval data. Another introduces descriptive and inferential statistics alongside estimation and hypothesis testing.

Start with population and sample, then move on to parameter and statistic. A separate mind map describes a statistic as a number that describes a sample and a parameter as a number that describes a population. Compare that explanation with the flashcards as you study the terms.

Use a quiz and map together

The introductory statistics quiz asks about collecting, organizing, summarizing and analyzing data. It also covers variables and values. Try it after the initial mind map and flashcards, then return to the map to check how the ideas fit together.

If you want to explore how data can be presented, a flashcard deck on the page includes scatter plots, bar charts, histograms and frequency distributions. Use it alongside the earlier resources to connect vocabulary with the forms of presentation listed here.

Explore the unit

Descriptive and Inferential Statistics is a section of Introduction to Statistics in Statistics and probability. The resources on this page offer different routes through its terms: maps for connections, flashcards for vocabulary and quizzes for practice. Choose a format that fits where you want to begin.