Defining bias

Define the following

A) Bias
B) Attrition Bias
C) Detection Bias

Introduction

Bias. A word that is so commonly uttered and everyone knows what it means. But if I were to ask you to specifically define the term – many people would struggle despite their understanding of the concept. In this blog, I hope to shine some light on the subject.

A) Bias

Well bias is not a good thing in statistics. On the most fundamental level, bias concerns the data, the results and the true value:

  • Data – what you collected
  • Results – what your data shows
  • True Value – the actual value of whatever your trying to measure

Now in reality, the ‘true value’ of something can never be known. But statistical measures can be used to estimate the true value as best they can. ‘Bias’ is when the data you collected is skewed in some way, and this affects the results.

Click here to read the full blog on Students 4 Best Evidence.