personal equation

American  

noun

1. the tendency to personal bias that accounts for variation in interpretation or approach and for which allowance must be made.

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personal equation British  

noun

1. the variation or error in observation or judgment caused by individual characteristics

2. the allowance made for such variation

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Etymology

Origin of personal equation

First recorded in 1835–45

Example Sentences

There are experimentalists, like Picasso, and those who, like Braque, discover their personal equation and go on repeating it.

From Time Magazine Archive

Relations between the U.S. and Europe are complicated by the personal equation.

From Time Magazine Archive

This is clearly brought out in contrast to non-scientific investigation, where personal equation counts for a great deal more.

From The pragmatic theory of truth as developed by Peirce, James, and Dewey by Geyer, Delton Loring

It was the personal equation as supplied by her that made the thing impossible.

From The Crime Doctor by Hornung, Ernest William

In the creation of the gentleman as well as of the thinker, the personal equation counts.

From Letters from a Father to His Son Entering College by Thwing, Charles Franklin