Key Idea: Bias is a systematic tilt that moves research away from the truth. It enters through the design, the people involved, and the culture and gender the research was built around.
Where bias comes from
- The design: sampling bias, leading questions
- The researcher: expectations, confirmation bias
- The participants: guessing the aim, looking good
Cultural bias
- One culture judged by another's standards
- Imposed etic: one culture's measure used on all
- WEIRD samples treated as everyone
Gender bias
- Alpha bias: differences exaggerated
- Beta bias: differences ignored
- Androcentrism: male as the norm
Reducing bias
- Before: a pilot, random sampling and allocation
- During: single-blind and double-blind
- After: a second researcher, replication
The words to know
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Bias | An honest tilt that pulls research away from the truth |
| Demand characteristics | Clues that let participants guess the aim and act to fit it |
| Social desirability | Giving the answer that makes you look good |
| Publication bias | Mostly positive results get published |
| Ethnocentrism | Treating your own culture as the normal one |
| Imposed etic | One culture's measure used on another as if it were neutral |
| Androcentrism | Treating male behaviour as the standard for everyone |
| Double-blind | Neither the participants nor the tester know who is in which group |
| Reflexivity | A researcher examining how her own views may shape the study |
Name the bias. Point to where it got in. Say what it does to the finding, and what would reduce it.
Exam-style question
One claim in the psychology of health and well-being is that research findings apply to all people. Discuss this claim with reference to bias.
Model answer plan
See the mark-by-mark plan — for / against / judgement, with marking guidance — in study mode.
Important: That sentence says too little to score. Say which bias, where it entered, and what it changed.
Tap each card to check yourself.
Which three places can bias come from in any study? The design, the researcher and the participants.
Emic or etic: comparing cultures with one shared measure? Etic. It becomes an imposed etic when the measure is not checked.
What can cultural and gender bias affect in clinical psychology? Diagnosis, prevalence statistics and treatment.
Alpha or beta: "men are rational, women are emotional"? Alpha bias: a difference is overstated.
Which control fits confirmation bias? Researcher triangulation: a second, independent analyst.
Personal or epistemological reflexivity: "Can this method answer my question?" Epistemological reflexivity.
Exam tips
- Name the type of bias, never just "bias".
- Use a detail from the study or the practical in every point.
- Bias can work in either direction, against any group.
- Pair each fix with the bias it targets.