ABSTRACT
Every profession has its own language, terms and ways of doing things. Estimating is no different. The trouble is, the terminology used for ostensibly the same thing is not always the same, nor are same terms always used in a consistent manner. An Estimating Process is a series of mandatory or possibly optional actions or steps taken within an organisation, usually in a defined sequence or order, in order to plan, generate and approve an estimate for a specific business purpose. An Estimating Method is a systematic means of creating an estimate, or element of estimate. An Estimating Methodology is a set or system of Estimating Methods. Techniques are generally used within a chosen Estimating Method but are not necessarily constrained to any particular approach. The majority of the numerical techniques are by definition parametric in nature as they are looking for a pattern of behaviour in the data, or they are assuming some other prior pattern established or observed historically.
