Chapter 3
Making Inferences and Testing Hypotheses
In This Chapter
Utilizing sample data and estimating descriptive measures
Understanding sampling distributions and the central limit theorem
Reviewing the characteristics of common probability distributions
Using probability distributions for interval estimation and hypothesis testing
One goal of both statistics and econometrics is to develop concepts that can be used to make predictions and forecasts with data. As a student, you typically use surveys and other forms of sample data to test your hypotheses and draw conclusions, and to do so, you need to understand how statistical inference works.
Statistical inference and hypothesis testing focus on the process of making generalizations for a population from sample information. Although econometrics courses cover inference procedures, you need to understand the foundational concepts covered in this chapter to fully grasp and appreciate those techniques.
This chapter reviews characteristics of well-known probability distributions and some fundamental concepts of statistical inference. ...
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