Likelihood function

In statistics, a likelihood function (often simply the likelihood) is a function of the parameters of a statistical model given data. Likelihood functions play a key role in statistical inference, especially methods of estimating a parameter from a set of statistics. In informal contexts, "likelihood" is often used as a synonym for "probability." In statistics, a distinction is made depending on the roles of outcomes vs. parameters. Probability is used before data are available to describe possible future outcomes given a fixed value for the parameter (or parameter vector). Likelihood is used after data are available to describe a function of a parameter (or parameter vector) for a given outcome.