noun / verb · academic
bias
/ˈbaɪəs/BI·as
an unfair preference or tendency that affects judgement or results; to influence unfairly
Examples
“The researcher took steps to eliminate bias in data collection.”
“Media coverage may introduce bias in public perception.”
“Be aware of confirmation bias: favouring evidence that supports your hypothesis.”
Band 8 sentence
“To ensure validity the study randomised participants and applied blind scoring to minimise any potential bias.”
Collocations
- confirmatory bias
- introduce bias
- reduce/eliminate bias
Word family
Common mistakes
bias on→bias towards / biased against
the bias of sample is big→the sample is biased / there is a large bias in the sample
Say it for a higher band
5prejudice→6leaning→7+bias
Synonyms
prejudice
skew
Easily confused
bias vs prejudice
“Researchers must control for bias when designing an experiment.”
Related words
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In Sublist 6
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