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What is bias?
• Bias is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as: “an
inclination or prejudice for or against one person or
group, especially in a way considered to be unfair”;
Research Bias • “a concentration on an interest in one particular area
or subject”;
• “a systematic distortion of statistical results due to a
JA Timbuak, PhD factor not allowed for in their derivation”

• The may lead to unfair treatment or judgement of others.

• In research it is regarded as systematic error or

systematic deviation from the truth

Types of Research Bias

• Research bias happens when the researcher • Design bias
conducting the experiment modify or skew the
findings in order to present a specific outcome. • Sampling or Selection or Participant Bias
• It is often known as experimenter bias • Publication Bias
• Analysis Bias
• Research bias can also happen when the personal • Publication Bias
choices and preferences of the researcher have
undue influence on the study • Analysis Bias
• Cognitive bias

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Types of Research bias
Design bias
• This deals with methods of your research. It happens
when the research design, survey questions,
and research method is largely influenced by the
preferences of the researcher rather than what
works best for the research.
• This could also happen when the personal
experiences of the researcher influence the choice
of the research question and methodology
Sampling or Selection or Participant Bias
• This has to do with a study’s inclusion/exclusion
criteria. It refers to an inclusion method which
automatically excludes some part of your
population from the research process.
• This happens when you select participants to
represent your research population while ignoring
groups that have alternative experiences
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Example of Design Bias
• A researcher who is involved in the manufacturing
process of a new drug may design a survey with
questions that only emphasize the strengths and
value of the drug in question.
• Example of Selection bias
• Administering your survey online; thereby limiting
it to internet savvy individuals and excluding
members of your population without internet
access.
• Collecting data about parenting from a mother’s
group. The findings in this type of research will be
biased towards mothers while excluding the
experiences of the fathers.
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Publication Bias
• Peer-reviewed journals and other published
academic papers, have some degree of bias.
• This bias is often imposed on them by the
publication criteria for research papers in a
particular field. Researchers work their papers to
meet these criteria and may ignore information or
methods that are not in line with them.
Analysis Bias
• Analysis bias arises during data processing. While
sorting and analyzing data, the researcher may
focus on data samples that confirm his/her
thoughts, expectations, or personal experiences.
• Example: While conducting a research on cannabis,
a researcher pays attention to data samples that
support the negative effects and ignores the
positive effects that it offers.
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• Example of publication bias
• Research papers in quantitative research are more
likely to be published if they contain statistical
information.
Cognitive bias
• A cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation
from rationality, which occurs due to the way our
cognitive system works.
• Cognitive biases cause us to be irrational in the way
we search for, evaluate, interpret, judge, use, and
remember information, as well as in the way we
make decisions.
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The illusion of transparency (a well known cognitive bias)
• The confirmation bias promotes various
problematic patterns of thinking, such as people’s
tendency to ignore information that contradicts
their beliefs
• For example, during a stop-and-search exercise, law
enforcement agents may profile certain
appearances and physical dispositions as law-
abiding.
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• A popular cognitive bias is the confirmation
bias that causes people to search for, favor,
interpret, and recall information in a way that
confirms their preexisting beliefs.
• For example, if someone is presented with a lot of
information on a certain topic, the confirmation
bias can cause them to only remember the bits of
information that confirm what they already
thought.
Confirmation bias can happen due
to:
• Biased search for information. This means that the
confirmation bias causes people to search for
information that confirms their preexisting beliefs,
and to avoid information that contradicts them.
• Biased favoring of information. This means that
the confirmation bias causes people to give more
weight to information that supports their beliefs,
and less weight to information that contradicts
them.
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• Biased interpretation of information. This means
that the confirmation bias causes people to
interpret information in a way that confirms their
beliefs, even if the information could be interpreted
in a way that contradicts them.
• Biased recall of information. This means that the
confirmation bias causes people to remember
information that supports their beliefs and to forget
information that contradicts them,
How to Identify Bias in a Research
• Pay attention to research design and methods.
• Observe the data collection process. Does it lean
overwhelmingly towards a particular group in the
survey population?
• Look out for bad survey questions like loaded
questions and negative questions.
• Observe the data sample you have to confirm if it is
a fair representation of your research population.
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• While bias exists in all study designs, researchers
should attempt to minimise bias,
• outlining potential sources of bias enables greater
critical evaluation of the research findings and
conclusions.
How to Avoid Research Bias
• Gather data from multiple sources: Be sure to collect data
samples from the different groups in your research
population.
• Verify your data: Before going ahead with the data analysis,
try to check in with other data sources, and confirm if you
are on the right track.
• If possible, ask research participants to help you review your
findings: Ask the people who provided the data whether
your interpretations seem to be representative of their
beliefs.
• Check for alternative explanations: Try to identify and
account for alternative reasons why you may have collected
data samples the way you did.
• Ask other members of your team to review your results: Ask
others to review your conclusions. This will help you see
things that you missed or identify gaps in your argument
that need to be addressed.