One very important topic that is immediately adjacent to the philosophy of statistics is   confirmation theory,  the philosophical theory that describes and justifies relations between scientific theory and empirical evidence. Arguably, the theory of statistics is a proper part of confirmation theory, as it describes and justifies the relation that obtains between statistical theory and evidence in the form of samples. It can be insightful to place statistical procedures in this wider framework of relations between evidence and theory. Zooming out even further, the philosophy of statistics is part of the philosophical topic of methodology, i.e., the general theory on whether and how science acquires knowledge. Thus conceived, statistics is one component in a large collection of scientific methods comprising concept formation, experimental design, manipulation and observation, confirmation, revision, and theorizing.