Chapter 7 Inference for numerical data
¶Chapter 5 introduced a framework for statistical inference based on confidence intervals and hypothesis tests. Chapter 6 summarized inference procedures for categorical data (counts and proportions), using the normal distribution and the chi-square distribution. In this chapter, we focus on inference procedures for numerical data and we encounter a new distribution. In each case, the inference ideas remain the same:
Determine which point estimate or test statistic is useful.
Identify an appropriate distribution for the point estimate or test statistic.
Apply the ideas from Chapter 5 using the distribution from step 2.
Each section in Chapter 7 explores a new situation: a single mean Section 7.1, a mean of differences Section 7.2; and a difference of means Section 7.3.