Maximum likelihood estimation begins with writing a mathematical expression known as the Likelihood Function of the sample data. Loosely speaking, the likelihood of a set of data is the probability of obtaining that particular set of data, given the chosen probability distribution model. This expression contains the unknown model parameters. The values of these parameters that maximize the sample likelihood are known as the Maximum Likelihood Estimates or MLE's.
Maximum likelihood estimation is a totally analytic maximization procedure. It applies to every form of censored or multicensored data, and it is even possible to use the technique across several stress cells and estimate acceleration model parameters at the same time as life distribution parameters. Moreover, MLE's and Likelihood Functions generally have very desirable large sample properties: