Estimator (Statistics)

A simple example of estimators and estimation in practice is the so-called "German Tank Problem" from World War Two. The Allies had no way to know for sure how many tanks the Germans were building every month. By counting the serial numbers of captured or destroyed tanks (the estimand), Allied statisticians created an estimator rule. This equation calculated the maximum possible number of tanks based upon the sequential serial numbers, and apply minimum variance analysis to generate the most likely estimate for how many new tanks German was building.