5.4 Confidence Intervals

Statistical Inference

So far we’ve learned many ways to describe a dataset, but our conclusions are valid only for the samples that we look at. How can we start making statements about the population, so that we can make informed decisions and predictions?

The basis of statistical inference lies in analyzing sampling distributions.

Confidence Intervals

A confidence interval is an interval estimate that we believe with some degree of confidence to contain the population parameter.

⊕ point vs interval estimates
⊕ bootstrap, bootstrap sample
⊕ confidence interval, quantiles