noun · neutral
attrition
UK/əˈtrɪʃ(ə)n/US/əˈtrɪʃən/a·TRI·tion
the loss of participants from a study over time, which can bias results
Examples
“High attrition in the follow-up period weakened the study's conclusions.”
“Researchers analysed whether attrition was random or systematic.”
“Attrition can create differences between those who remain and those who drop out.”
Band 8 sentence
“The authors reported a 25% attrition rate over two years and discussed how this could bias the findings.”
Collocations
- attrition rate
- high attrition
- loss to follow-up / loss to attrition
Word family
Common mistakes
There was many dropout during the study.→There were many dropouts during the study.
High attrition reduce the validity.→High attrition reduces validity.
Say it for a higher band
5dropout→6loss to follow-up→7+attrition
Synonyms
dropout
Easily confused
dropout
“The dropout rate was higher among younger participants.”
Related words
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In Science & Research
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