What term refers to making inferences about a population based on a sample?

The term that refers to making inferences about a population based on a sample is inferential statistics. This branch of statistics is specifically focused on using data from a sample to draw conclusions about a larger population. When researchers collect sample data, they often want to generalize their findings to the entire population, which involves estimating population parameters or testing hypotheses.

Inferential statistics includes techniques such as confidence intervals, hypothesis testing, and regression analysis—all of which facilitate predictions or assessments about a population's characteristics derived from the analysis of sample data. By employing inferential statistics, statisticians can measure the level of uncertainty associated with their inferences, which is crucial in decision-making processes based on statistical findings. This is very different from descriptive statistics, which simply summarizes or describes the features of a dataset without making broader claims about underlying populations.