What is estimation?

Estimation is the process of finding an approximate value or quantity for a particular purpose. It is used in a wide variety of fields, including project management (estimating costs and timelines), software development (estimating effort), statistics (estimating population parameters), and economics (estimating market trends). Different techniques, such as expert judgment, analogous estimation, parametric estimation, and statistical modeling, are employed depending on the context and available data. The goal is to provide a reasonable approximation when exact values are unavailable or impractical to obtain.