1.12 At what age did women marry? A historian wants to estimate the average age at marriage of women in New England in the early 19th century. Within her state archives she finds marriage records for the years 1800–

1820, which she treats as a sample of all marriage records from the early 19th century. The average age of the women in the records is 24.1 years. Using the appropriate statistical method, she estimates that the average age of brides in early 19th-century New England was between 23.5 and 24.7.

a. Which part of this example gives a descriptive summary of the data?

b. Which part of this example draws an inference about a population?

c. To what population does the inference in part b refer?

d. The average age of the sample was 24.1 years. Is 24.1 a statistic or a parameter?