gender bias

Question 1

what are some weaknesses of gender bias?

Answer 1

2. there is evidence of males dominating throughout the research process, not just in the terms of participants used
   - research shows that lecturers in psychology are most likely to be conducted by males despite how psychology’s undergraduate intake is mainly female
   - this means research questions are likely to follow male concerns where as females can be overlooked in the research process
   - this raises the issue of sexism in psychology and that institutional structures and methods produce gender-biased findings
3. research which is guilty of alpha bias may be assuming gender differences are due to biological factors when they are actually the result of stereotypes
   - for example, research suggesting that boys have better spatial ability has been reported as biological, which has then been accepted as fact
   -however, more recently, brain scans have provided support against this
   - this is a problem because research findings may be accepted wrongly without acknowledging the influence of social stereotypes
   - as a result, we should be wary of accepting all research findings into gender as factual

Question 1

what are some strengths of gender bias?

Answer 1

1. one strength of awareness of gender bias is that many researchers are now acknowledging how their gender has affected the outcome of a study
   - for example, Dambrin and Lambert reflected how their gender impacted their understanding of events in their research on women in executive positions in accountancy firms
   - shows how researchers are recognising the effects of gender on their work and become a critical aspect of the research process
   - shows gender bias isn’t necessarily negative but needs to be reflected on in order to advance our understanding
2. however, this doesn’t mean that psychologists should stop studying possible biological gender differences
   - research showed that women have have better connections between the left and right side of the brain than men which maybe why they’re better at multitasking
   - this suggests there still might be biological differences but it’s important to not exaggerate the effect they have on behaviour