I was watching a competitive television program with my Mister, and an athlete mentioned that he was giving 110%.
I knew then what I am thankful for, for today's post: A small grasp of statistics.
My children will never be in the 110th percentile, nor will they be in the 100th percentile. And I know that I would never, in an athletic competition, give 110%. It just isn't possible. I accept those facts.
I know that if my child was put into a study, measuring height, with 99 other children, and she was the tallest, she would not be in the 100th percentile. Because that would mean she is taller than herself. That isn't possible. Even when nurses don't always understand this (okay, it was just one nurse, one time), I do.
And how does this serve me? I don't know. It is just one of those things I am grateful to know. I guess it eases my mind to know that I can give 100%, without feeling pressure to give 105%.
2 comments:
We (well I then) require some fancy math footwork and examples to disprove that 100% idea. I'm trying to get it, but not so far. So help me out because if the picture pieces all line up for me, then it's be such a boon for me and I'd feel fine and dandy in the mid-70 % range on most of my completed and uncompleted projects.
I will give you an example of an often-used statistical chart: the growth chart.
To come up with the growth chart, scientists took one hundred children and plotted their growth.
A parent takes his/her child to the annual physical and they measure the child. Let's say the child weighs 33 pounds. The doctor looks at the growth chart, finds the age and the weight and makes a mark on the chart. It falls on a line. Let's say the child falls on the 75% line. This means that if this child was put in the same study with the other children, he would way more than about 75% of the children. If the weight or height is above the chart (which happens frequently in our family!), you would say they are above the 95%, not 110th or whatever silly things are said. Because if you say 110% on data from a growth chart, you are saying that your child is taller than all of the children in the study, including a child their own height, plus ten more children who weren't even in the study.
Does that make sense?
And by the way, when I do the Sit-and-Reach test (you put your feet against a block and stretching your arms above your head you see how far you can reach past your feet), I am off the chart. That is my little personal freak show.
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