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How to Calculate a Human's Ability to Estimate

If you want to know how good you are at making estimates, then you can use a percent error rate (PER) method. The PER will tell you how far, as a percentage, your estimate was to the actual amount. The lower the PER, the better an estimator that person is. So, a person whose percent error was three percent is a more accurate estimator than a percent error of 10 percent.

Instructions

    • 1

      Ask for an estimate. For example, ask someone how long a particular length of string may be. Assume that the answer was five inches long.

    • 2

      Determine the actual amount. In this example, you will find that the line is actually seven inches long.

    • 3

      Subtract the smaller amount from the larger amount. In this example, seven inches minus five inches equals two remaining inches.

    • 4

      Divide the difference by the actual amount, then multiply the amount by 100 to calculate the percentage. In this example, two inches divided by five inches equals 0.4. Therefore, 0.4 times 100 equals a 40 PER. So that person was 40 percent off on his or her estimate.

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