Sports Science and Medicine:
inferential statistics
Complex statistical techniques used to infer cause and effect, and to determine the degree to which the findings of a sample can be generalized to a larger population. For example, in a study of the effect of a pre-match pep-talk on performance, a researcher may design a study with appropriate control groups, and use an appropriate statistical analysis to see if a significant difference occurs between the test and control groups. If a significant difference exists, the researcher would infer that the pre-match talks caused the effect. Compare descriptive statistics.
