Conclusion is usually something that is explicitly stated. Inference is another type of conclusion but is not explicitly stated. You need to reach it by using the information provided.

I think other members can chime in with their opinions too

A conclusion, ideally, should follow from the given information. Sometimes, the conclusion is missing from the argument and your job is to find the conclusion. In other words, your task is to infer what the conclusion might be.

In other cases, the conclusion is explicitely stated within the argument. For example, GMAT exams should not be used as part of the admission process because the exam has a very low reliability coefficient. Therefore, such exams cannot be valid measures of performance.

The main conclusion here would be that the GMAT is not a valid measure of performance. We can also infer that the reliability influences validity - that is, we can deduce this statement from the argument, even though it is not explicity stated.

Good explanation...

AlfyG..
Good explanation.

Conclusion is information which can be concluded from the given evidences.

Inference is that information which you can squeeze out of the given evidence and conclusion.

A very good explanation.
http://classroom.synonym.com/difference ... -4962.html

Some distinctions
Conclusion
- a decision/prediction of future (i.e. next step)
- can be used to make additional inferences
- MAY (Strengthen/Weaken/etc) or MAY NOT (Draw a conclusion) be stated in the passage
- is the Main Point of the argument

Inference
- new facts/idea based on existing facts
- can be used to generate additional information to draw a conclusion (results in more accurate conclusions)
- NEVER stated in the passage (Conclusion is never present in an inference question)
- Must be true (should be supported by a/few premises)

Thanks
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On the GMAT, an 'inference problem' is a particular type of CR problem.

These problems always ask you to draw your own conclusion/inference. They can use the word 'conclusion', the word 'inference', or neither. These questions would signal an inference problem:

"Which of the following conclusions is most properly drawn from the information above?"
"Which of the following would be a valid conclusion to the author's argument?"
"Which of these statements follows logically from the argument presented above?"
"Which of the following inferences is correctly drawn based on the argument?"

The terminology itself doesn't matter. They're always asking you to do the exact same thing, whether they use the term 'conclusion' or the term 'inference'. What they're asking you to do, is read the passage, and pick an answer choice that you can definitely prove to be true based on only the information in the argument.

On all other types of GMAT CR problem, the conclusion is already there in the argument. However, the conclusions that are already written in the argument, aren't logically flawless conclusions. That's what makes this concept a little strange. When you're doing an inference problem, you have to pick a conclusion that doesn't really have flaws in it. The answer choice you decide on should be provable. But, when the GMAT writes its own conclusions on other problem types, those conclusions typically do have flaws in them. In fact, a lot of other CR problem types are based on identifying those flaws.
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Why does gmatclub have a section for Inference and one for Conclusion questions? Even Magoosh says in the videos that these are the same question type...
inference: https://gmatclub.com/forum/search.php?s ... %5B%5D=168
conclusion: https://gmatclub.com/forum/search.php?s ... %5B%5D=168

thanks!

Inference and Conclusion "question types" on GMAT are for all practical purposes interchangeable. Essentially, it’s a statement which given the information in the passage must be true (logically). Lets take an example:

Simple argument


At Wharton, every applicant who scores 760 is invited to interview. vc_pec, who scored 760 applied to Wharton.

Inference and Conclusion

vc_pec will be invited to interview at Wharton

The statement above is an inference as well as a conclusion.
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