Observations and Inferences

An observation notes a fact or occurrence using any of the five senses, whereas an inference explains or interprets the observation. For example, today in lab I picked up a bobcat skull and, while looking at its dentition, observed that it had carnassial teeth. This is just an observation because it involves simply noticing a characteristic of an object. Based on this observation it can be inferred that bobcats are carnivores, as only carnivores have a carnassial complex (although not all carnivores do). This inference explains the observation: carnassial teeth are present in this specific skull because the skull belongs to a carnivore.