Suppose we have collected data from a sample. We know the sample mean but we do not know the mean for the entire population. The sample mean is six, and the error bound for the mean is 2.5.

= 6 and EBM = 2.5

The confidence interval is (6 - 2.5, 6 + 2.5), and calculating the values gives (3.5, 8.5). If the confidence level (CL) is 95%, then we say that, "We estimate with 95% confidence that the true value of the population mean is between 3.5 and 8.5."