The term inference comes from the Latin “inferre” which means “to carry within“. In this way, starting from information, new data can be extracted.

Applied to the scientific method, inferences are processes of understanding and deduction, that allow to advance from the observation of a natural phenomenon to the formulation of a hypothesis about said phenomenon. Probably, during the progress, the researcher will incorporate data from his previous personal experience on the same subject or on topics that may be connected in some way.