Accounting for bias

Bias is a conscious or subconscious preference in favor of or against a person, group of people or thing. You’ve learned that biases can affect people's judgment and skew data. The good news is, once people know and accept that they have biases, they can start to recognize their own patterns of thinking and learn how to improve.

Based on what you’ve learned so far, do you think it’s important to consider bias in your everyday life? Why or why not?

Submit a short paragraph (50-100 words) describing your thoughts about bias. Include a specific example of bias drawn from your everyday life. Then, visit the discussion forum to read what other learners have written, and engage in discussion about at least two posts.

Test your knowledge on unbiased and objective data

Question 1

Which of the following are examples of sampling bias? Select all that apply.

• A national election poll only interviews people with college degrees.
• A clinical study includes three times more men than women.
• An online marketing analytics firm stores data in a spreadsheet.
• A survey of high-school-age students does not include homeschooled students.

Explain: A survey of high-school-age students that does not include homeschooled students, a national election poll that only interviews people with college degrees, and a clinical study that includes three times more men than women are not representative of the population.

Question 2

Fill in the blank: The tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that validates pre-existing beliefs is _____ bias.

A. observer

B. confirmation

C. interpretation

D. sampling

The correct answer is B. confirmation. Explain: The tendency to search for or interpret information in a way that validates pre-existing beliefs is confirmation bias.

Question 3

Which of the following terms are also ways of describing observer bias? Select all that apply.

• Spectator bias
• Research bias
• Perception bias
• Experimenter bias

Explain: Observer bias is sometimes referred to as experimenter bias or research bias.