ENGL 102 - English Composition II - Ihlenfeldt

Bias comes into the research process at every stage. Your own interests, experiences, beliefs, and prior knowledge will impact your topic selection (for example, my use of the Johnstown Flood information on the Currency page) in the same way that researchers are biased on those same factors. This bias can be more important in some situations than in others, but it's always something you should think about. Here are some examples of where bias can impact your research in a negative way:

• Bias in search algorithms and their delivery of results
• Bias in the tools used for research (and just in case you think things have changed...)
• Bias in the selection and communication with participants
• Bias caused by conflict of interest
• Bias in the publication and reporting of results