There is a huge difference between facts and inferences. Facts are the things which can be made in a limited number and they provide the closest approach to certainty while inferences are made in an unlimited number which may indicate a degree of probability (Wood, 2012). Facts always deals with information that has been read, seen or heard and which are yet to be verified or they are already verified. A fact might be false if not verified. Inferences are the conclusions derived from some unknown information on the basic of some known information (Wood, 2012).
Most of the facts are made after an experience hence an event will never become a fact unless it occurs and it is proven (Wood, 2012). A fact is not perception dependent and it will be agreed to by everyone, therefore it will not change from one person to the next. A fact will tend to bring agreement among people (Wood, 2012). An inference is the sum of facts, conclusion and logic of deduction. An inference should contain a fact which should prove another proposition and also an unknown proposition should be present, this unknown proposition should be proven via the assistance of another fact (Wood, 2012). In inferences a conclusion from the term infer is the proving of the unknown with the assistance of the known. The reason why there is some confusion between an inference and a fact is because most people treat inferences as facts (Wood, 2012).
The difference between a fact and an inference is that a fact statement can be composed after an observation it is limited within the observation while an inference can be made at any given time and it can go way far beyond observations (Wood, 2012).
References
Wood, J. T. (2012). Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters. New York: Cengage Learning.
