Types of Bias Flashcards
Confirmation Bias
Looking for information that confirms your beliefs and ignoring information that conflicts with that belief.
(Weiten & McCann, 2019)
What biases may exist in my research?
How will I limit them?
I think the biggest ones will be sampling bias and response bias.
For the telemetry study for example, I captured all my fish using electrofishing.
E-fishing is most effective in shallow water so habitat preference among species will affect how likely they are to be captured.
Larger species more likely to be captured because they are easier to see and their larger body size makes them more susceptible to the electric field.
Fish with finer scales also easier to capture.
Tried to limit this by ensuring I tagged a broad range of sizes.
Tags may bias behaviours of animals so will try to ensure I use the smallest tags possible to limit this.
Sampling bias may also occur in the social study as it’s likely people who care more about the topic will respond and it’s online so only people with access to the online resources can reply.
Response bias could happen in my survey for example social desirability bias or question order bias. To try to alleviate this I will keep my questions neutral and have qualtrics randomize question order for respondents. I’ll also use triangulation.
What are potential sources of bias in telemetry? Provide examples.
- The capture of the animals to be tagged
(e.g., are they representative of the study population, capture method can influence) - Sex
(e.g., is it evenly represented?) - Behaviour
(e.g., schooling fish may not act independently) - Size
(e.g., can be influenced by capture method and tag size chosen for study) - Impacts of tags
(e.g., on performance/behavior) - Detection range
(e.g., if limited to smaller-scale) - Sampling time for capture/tagging
(Adams et al, 2012)
Sampling Bias
A systematic error in sampling inherent to a given sampling technique (e.g., size selectivity of a gill net).
Strategic Bias
Bias that arises when survey respondents provide answers that they believe will help influence a decision in a direction they desire.
(Zale et al, 2012)
Bias
Any tendency which prevents unprejudiced consideration of a question.
In research, bias occurs when systematic error is introduced into sampling or testing by selecting or encouraging one outcome or answer over others.
Bias can occur at any phase of research, including study design or data collection, as well as in the process of data analysis and publication.
(Pannucci & Wilkins, 2011)
Reporting Bias
Selective revealing or suppression of information.
(Wikipedia)
Social-Desirability Bias
A type of response bias that is the tendency of survey respondents to answer questions in a manner that they think will be viewed favourably by others.
(Wikipedia)
Response Bias
A general term for a wide range of tendencies for participants to respond inaccurately or falsely to questions.
(Wikipedia)
Acquiescence Bias
A type of response bias.
Respondents to a survey have a tendency to agree with all the questions in a measure.
(Wikipiedia)
Question Order Bias
A type of response bias.
A respondent may react differently to questions based on the order in which questions appear in a survey or interview.
(Wikipedia)
Publication Bias
A type of bias with regard to what academic research is likely to be published because of a tendency of researchers, and journal editors, to prefer some outcomes rather than others e.g. results showing a significant finding, leads to a problematic bias in the published literature.
(Wikipedia)
Cognitive Bias
Provide examples.
A cognitive bias is a systematic error in thinking that occurs when people are processing and interpreting information in the world around them and it affects the decisions and judgments that they make.
e.g., confirmation bias, social desirability bias
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-cognitive-bias-2794963
