Descriptive statistics are used to describe and summarize data, while inferential statistics allow inferences to be made about a population based on a sample. Descriptive statistics include measures of central tendency like the mean, median, and mode, as well as measures of variability like range, variance, and standard deviation. Inferential statistics techniques include point and interval estimation to calculate population parameters, hypothesis testing to accept or reject hypotheses, and prediction to forecast future observations. Regression analysis can be used to model relationships between variables and determine the conditional mean of the dependent variable given the independent variables.