Descriptive statistics are numbers that summarize the data with the purpose of describing what occurred in the
sample. In contrast, inferential statistics are numbers that allow the investigator to determine whether there are differences between two or more samples and whether these differences are likely to be present in the population of
interest. Descriptive statistics also can be used to compare samples from one study with another. Descriptive statistics
also help researchers detect sample characteristics that may influence their conclusions. For example, if a sample of air
medical personnel included 400 women and only 20 men, the investigator would need to be careful about generalizing
the findings to male air transport personnel.