Statistical inference
'Statistical inference (inductive statistics, statistical induction) is a part of statistics which, with its methods based on knowledge of probability theory, makes it possible to formulate scientifically justified general conclusions from empirical knowledge.
The principles of inductive statistics are based on ``inductive thinking (one of the basic components of human thinking, the opposite of deductive), which creates general conclusions from individual observations. However, its shortcoming is subjectivity and the resulting possibility of creating an error, the size of which cannot be determined objectively.
Inductive statistics (statistical induction) makes it possible, under certain assumptions, to create general conclusions, the degree of reliability of which can be objectively quantified. For this purpose, he develops various procedures that are based on the concepts of probability theory. The terms base file and selection also play a central role in them.