The point estimate for the population mean is simply the sample mean. In statistical terms, if you have a set of data points from a population, the average of these points serves as the best single estimate of the true population mean.
To calculate the sample mean, you add up all the sample values and divide by the number of values. This gives you a succinct representation of the central tendency of your data. For instance, if your sample data points are 5, 7, and 9, the sample mean would be (5 + 7 + 9) / 3 = 7.
The key reason for using the sample mean as a point estimate is that it minimizes the potential error when trying to estimate the overall average of the population. It is important to remember, however, that a point estimate doesn’t provide any information about the precision or reliability of that estimate. To gain insights into the accuracy of the point estimate, we often look at confidence intervals or other statistical measures.