Today\u2019s expression is a phrasal verb, \u201cto average out.\u201d This is a unique one, and you use when you\u2019re talking about data, numbers. And typically, it\u2019s when you\u2019re talking about data that has a lot of variation <\/span> or a lot of noise <\/span>, but nevertheless <\/span>, you can still draw some conclusions <\/span> about the data.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how you heard it earlier. We were talking about the body temperature measurements, specifically the one study that established 98.6 as the normal body temperature. And I was wondering <\/span>, you know, did that study have some type of bias? For example, was it taken of only sick people? Or is it possible the instrumentation wasn\u2019t calibrated properly <\/span>? Whatever: is there some reason not to trust <\/span> that conclusion? That was my question.<\/p>\n The most study that came out looked at several data sets, from different sources, over a longer period of time. So you would expect that the variations of <\/span> one individual doctor\u2019s instruments, or the bias of one study, would average out over time, over the much larger data set.<\/p>\n What I mean here is that, when you have really large amounts of data, you can accept a little bit of imperfection <\/span> in any one given part <\/span> of the data set. Obviously, you prefer perfect data. But if there were some flaw <\/span> in some part of the data, it would probably average out over a lot of different observations. It wouldn\u2019t be the end of the world <\/span>.<\/p>\n We use \u201caverage out\u201d by saying that an error or an outlier <\/span> or a data set with a lot of variations averages out. That means that, okay maybe one study is biased and gives readings <\/span> that are too high. But maybe another one is too low. A couple of those in a huge data set, and it will average out. The important thing is that there\u2019s no bias one way or another <\/span> over the whole data set you have.<\/p>\n Let me give you another example. In this example, it simply means that we\u2019re calculating the average over numbers that are variable <\/span>\u2014they\u2019re very different. It\u2019s a new year, so I always look back on my spending <\/span> from the previous year in different categories. So I looked at my gas bill from 2019, and I mean, natural gas <\/span> at home. In my apartment, I use natural gas for the hot water heater, the stove and oven, and most importantly for my furnace <\/span>. Chicago, where I live, is cold in the winter and hot in the summer. So there is a lot of variation in the amount of gas that I use.<\/p>\n The lowest month was June and July, which were both $48. The highest month was last February and that was $88. And the other months were scattered between those two extremes <\/span>. But my gas bill averaged out to $60 per month. We say \u201caverage out\u201d because there\u2019s a lot of variation. The highest month was almost double <\/span> the lowest month; not quite <\/span>, but almost double. $48 to $88. So there\u2019s a lot of variation, but it averages out to $60 per month.<\/p>\n I think we say \u201caverage out\u201d to almost say that, if you ignore the variations <\/span>, here\u2019s what it is. How much TV do you watch a day? For me, there are a lot of days where I don\u2019t turn the TV on a single time. Actually today is one of those days. The TV has not gone on, and it won\u2019t. Zero today. I have other days where I watch a football game in the afternoon and a movie at night. That can be five hours. I don\u2019t have a lot of those days, but I do have them. I would say my TV time averages out to an hour a day. In baseball season, I watch more games and I usually have a game on while I\u2019m doing other things. In the winter, not as much. But over a year, I think my TV habits average out to about an hour a day.<\/p>\n It\u2019s Thursday, so we have a song of the week. It was supposed to be last week\u2019s song, but I pre-empted JR. So it\u2019s this week\u2014and this is a good one. I had never heard of this one until today\u2014\u201cGrowing Up\u201d by the band Run River North. Run River North is a Korean-American band based in <\/span> Los Angeles; their music is like indie rock. I really like the song \u201cGrowing Up.\u201d It\u2019s about taking advantage of the time you have and having the courage to <\/span> be happy and go after your own happiness. Good job, JR; this is a good song. \u201cGrowing Up\u201d by Run River North. <\/p>\n That\u2019s it for today. Thanks for joining us for episode 231. If you have kids, remember, if the fever is 99.5, let \u2018em stay home. That\u2019s two degrees above normal now! Don\u2019t forget, we\u2019ll be right back here again on Monday. Have a great weekend.<\/p>\n And don\u2019t forget, by the way, the listener survey. It\u2019s going to help us, it\u2019s going to help you\u2014because we\u2019ll only get better because you give your opinion\u2014but it\u2019s also a great way to practice your reading and writing. It\u2019s a win-win! PlainEnglish.com\/survey<\/a> and it should only take a few minutes. Once more, I\u2019d really appreciate your feedback at PlainEnglish.com\/survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" To \u201caverage out\u201d means to draw conclusions from data or number sets with a lot of variation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"terminology_category":[79],"lesson_number":[148],"keywords":[188,189],"content_tag":[],"level":[],"class_list":["post-1655","expressions","type-expressions","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","terminology_category-phrasal-verb","lesson_number-148","keywords-average","keywords-out"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJR\u2019s song of the week<\/h3>\n
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