statistics can answer these kinds of questions unequivocally; instead, inference tells us what is likely, and what is unlikely. Researchers cannot prove that a new drug is effective in treating heart disease, even when they have data from a carefully controlled clinical trial. After all, it is entirely possible that there will be random variation in the outcomes of patients in the treatment and control groups that are unrelated to the new drug. If 53 out of 100 patients taking the new
