Point estimation
In statistics, point estimation involves the use of sample data to calculate a single value (known as a point estimate, since it identifies a point rather than an interval), which serves as a "best guess" or "best estimate" of an unknown quantity, for example, the population mean, the variance of a distribution, or a model parameter (in a parametric model). Point estimation can be contrasted with interval estimation: interval estimates are typically either confidence intervals, in the case of frequentist inference, or credible intervals, in the case of Bayesian inference.