Describe an example of inferential statistics you\'ve heard or read in the news

Question

Describe an example of inferential statistics you've heard or read in the news and include a description of the population and the sample used. Follow the general steps for inference described in the study.

Have you ever heard or read a statistic you didn't believe? Give an example. Describe the kind of study or statistical evidence you'd need either to debunk or prove the statistic.

Imagine you're a scientist on Mars and you want to do an inferential study to learn more about the planet. Describe such a study. Follow the general steps for inference described in the study.

Are there things people shouldn't know? Describe an example where you think inferential statistics shouldn't be used, and explain why. (One example: some people believe it's wrong for news media to call the outcome of an election before everyone has voted.

Explanation / Answer

Since 1 question per post is allowed, I'll answer the 1st question:

The Presidential Poles : Is a very good example of usage of inferential statistics in real life.

The media wants to know who will win. But they can't do the survey poles countrywide as that is impractical and costly. Hence, they can't reach out the population.

But it' much easier to reach out to a representative sample of people from this population, hence, bringing to us the idea that statistics can be calculated even on a sample. We can then conduct tests to conclude if the same applies to population.

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