4.1 THE MEANING OF STATISTICAL INFERENCE Statistical inference: the study of the relationship between a population and a sample drawn for that population The process of generalizing from the sample value ( to the population value E(X)is the essence of statistical inference4.1 THE MEANING OF STATISTICAL INFERENCE Statistical inference: the study of the relationship between a population and a sample drawn for that population. The process of generalizing from the sample value ( ) to the population value E(X) is the essence of statistical inference. X