<s>
In	O
statistics	O
education	O
,	O
informal	B-General_Concept
inferential	I-General_Concept
reasoning	I-General_Concept
(	O
also	O
called	O
informal	O
inference	O
)	O
refers	O
to	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
making	O
a	O
generalization	O
based	O
on	O
data	O
(	O
samples	O
)	O
about	O
a	O
wider	O
universe	O
(	O
population/process	O
)	O
while	O
taking	O
into	O
account	O
uncertainty	O
without	O
using	O
the	O
formal	O
statistical	O
procedure	O
or	O
methods	O
(	O
e.g.	O
</s>
<s>
Like	O
formal	O
statistical	O
inference	O
,	O
the	O
purpose	O
of	O
informal	B-General_Concept
inferential	I-General_Concept
reasoning	I-General_Concept
is	O
to	O
draw	O
conclusions	O
about	O
a	O
wider	O
universe	O
(	O
population/process	O
)	O
from	O
data	O
(	O
sample	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
statistics	O
education	O
literature	O
,	O
the	O
term	O
"	O
informal	O
"	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
distinguish	O
informal	B-General_Concept
inferential	I-General_Concept
reasoning	I-General_Concept
from	O
a	O
formal	O
method	O
of	O
statistical	O
inference	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Recently	O
,	O
informal	B-General_Concept
inferential	I-General_Concept
reasoning	I-General_Concept
has	O
been	O
the	O
focus	O
of	O
research	O
and	O
discussion	O
among	O
researchers	O
and	O
educators	O
in	O
statistics	O
education	O
as	O
it	O
is	O
seen	O
as	O
having	O
a	O
potential	O
to	O
help	O
build	O
fundamental	O
concepts	O
that	O
underlie	O
formal	O
statistical	O
inference	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Bakker	O
and	O
Derry	O
(	O
2011	O
)	O
argue	O
for	O
using	O
inferentialism	O
as	O
a	O
philosophical	O
foundation	O
to	O
develop	O
informal	B-General_Concept
inferential	I-General_Concept
reasoning	I-General_Concept
and	O
therefore	O
address	O
three	O
major	O
challenges	O
in	O
statistics	O
education--(1 )	O
avoiding	O
students	O
 '	O
inert	O
knowledge	O
(	O
not	O
being	O
able	O
to	O
apply	O
what	O
they	O
have	O
learned	O
to	O
new	O
problems	O
)	O
,	O
(	O
2	O
)	O
avoiding	O
atomistic	O
approaches	O
to	O
teaching	O
statistics	O
,	O
and	O
(	O
3	O
)	O
sequencing	O
topics	O
to	O
create	O
coherence	O
in	O
curriculum	O
from	O
a	O
students	O
 '	O
perspective	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
(	O
2008	O
)	O
suggest	O
three	O
types	O
of	O
tasks	O
that	O
have	O
been	O
used	O
in	O
studies	O
of	O
students	O
 '	O
informal	B-General_Concept
inferential	I-General_Concept
reasoning	I-General_Concept
and	O
its	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
