fudge factor
2
7.6
- noun
- /fʌdʒ ˈfæktər/
- Specialized
:
factor de corrección
- Ariely and his academic colleagues found that the "fudge factor" is greatest when there is a distance between act and consequence, where there are grey areas, and where we have financial incentives to act against the interests of clients.
- apply a fudge factor
- personal fudge factor
Now, how would you test a personal fudge factor?
- Now, how would you test a personal fudge factor?
- And in fixing it, he added like a fudge factor, OK, he called HA constant that became Planck's constant.
Examples
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Try to model galaxy rotation and evolution without the fudge factor; it doesn't work. With it, it works well.
Blog text (22) -
The BLS does one better and releases monthly details on the differences between the CPS and CES surveys, along with fudge factors to smooth the variance.
Blog text (2) -
Everyone I know when they go through calculations like this, they always start out with some arbitrary fudge factor like this.
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They are using arbitrary values plus a fudge factor to make the result just what they want.
Blog text (15) -
In order to get their proposed models of gravity to line up with observed reality, they found they needed another constant... a fudge factor, if you will.
Blog text (22) -
Many believed that half of the nation's narcotic addicts resided in New York City, and using a fudge factor, it was estimated that between 200,000 and 300,000 narcotic addicts lived in the U.S.
Academic text (2009) -
Engineers often use a fudge factor in their calculations to account for potential errors and improve accuracy.
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When estimating project costs, consultants frequently apply a fudge factor to ensure they cover unexpected expenses.
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To enhance the accuracy of the model, the researchers added a fudge factor based on previous data inaccuracies.
Synonyms
39
4.0
A number added or taken away to make a measurement more accurate
27
4.2
An amount that shows how much a number or result may be wrong
11
3.7
Space that allows small mistakes without big problems
Antonyms
How Large
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'fudge' (to adjust or tamper with numbers) and 'factor' (an influencing element) transparently point to some kind of adjustment element, so a learner would likely infer an ad hoc value added to calculations. However, the informal nuance of 'fudge' (approximate, possibly deceptive) and the technicalised meaning in contexts like engineering make the exact sense and pragmatic implications not fully predictable without exposure.
Etymology
The term fudge factor comes from the word fudge, which means 'to change or hide a small mistake', and factor, a number used in a calculation. People started using a 'fudge factor' when they added a small extra number to cover unknowns or possible errors, so it now means an extra value added to make a result safer or more likely correct.