← Glossary

Confidence

Also called: n, sample size

How much weight a reading deserves, based on how many headlines it rests on and whether the two readers agree.

In practice

A reading from two headlines says so on its face — “Thin confidence · based on 2 headlines” — while one from nine headlines with both readers agreeing reads stronger. The count is simply how many headlines the reading rests on.

What it is not

Not accuracy — a confident reading of today's language can still be a poor guide to anything else.