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

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

From Time Magazine Archive

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

From Time Magazine Archive

It is fully recognised, both by advocates and opponents of payment by result, that the personal equation of the tapper is a very important factor.

From The Preparation of Plantation Rubber by Morgan, Sidney

Well, since it's difficult to keep the personal equation out, I suppose dancing and sailing about these islands on board the Estremedura is rather a wasteful life.

From For Jacinta by Bindloss, Harold

The relation between teachers and scholars is personal rather than official; and on both sides the personal equation often complicates the problem.

From Organizing and Building Up the Sunday School Modern Sunday School Manuals by Hurlbut, Jesse Lyman