Definition: Point estimation

Category: General concept

Point estimation endeavours to give the best single estimated value of a parameter, as compared with interval estimation, which proceeds by specifying a range of values (A Dictionary of Statistical Terms). 

Estimation is concerned with inference about the numerical value of unknown population values from incomplete data such as a sample. If a single figure is calculated for each unknown parameter the process is called point estimation. If an interval is calculated within which the parameter is likely, in some sense, to lie, the process is called interval estimation (The Oxford Dictionary of Statistical Terms). The International Statistical Institute, “The Oxford Dictionary of Statistical Terms”, edited by Yadolah Dodge, Oxford University Press, 2003