Answer
a) Description aspect can be seen in the line 'The report indicated that 14.7% of white households, 30.4%, of black households and 11.1% of Asian households had annual incomes below the poverty line.’
b) Inference aspect can be seen in the line ‘Based on these results, the study authors concluded that the percentage of all such black households with annual incomes below the poverty line is between 28.6% and 32.2%.'
Work Step by Step
a) It is key to remember that in statistics when you are asked to describe data, you are in essence asked to provide a summary of what the data is showing. This may include noting the highest value in the dataset, the lowest value, the median value of the dataset or the mean. In this case, the author has summarized the data by showing the percentage of households that have incomes below the poverty line by race.
b) Inference involves using data obtained from a sample to draw conclusions about the overall population. In this case, the author has used data from a sample consisting of 50,000 persons to draw conclusions about the income status of black households overall.
