# Kaplan-Meier method or estimator?

This is a really basic question. I say Kaplan-Meier estimator and always tell people to say estimator and not method or methodology. However, I've seen a few places where statisticians also say Kaplan-Meier method/methodology. I was wondering which terminology is best and why use one over the other.

Thank you!

• Method is too vague. What it is is an estimator (of the survival function). May 8 '19 at 14:50

I would say that you can say Kaplan-Meier estimate if you mean the statistic itself which refers to the survival function $$S(t)$$ (the probability that life is longer than t). But if you report a Kaplan-Meier plot (with confidence intervals), for instance, you can't call that a Kaplan-Meier estimator. A plot is no estimator, it can only be a visual representation of an estimator. I don't know whether there is an exact definition of KM method but maybe some people use the more general term KM method if they use methods associated with KM, for example if they derive the estimator and the confidence intervals and make a plot.