Bias in research: combatting the enemy within Seminar

Humans are prone to make rapid judgements and then post hoc rationalisation in favour of their initial decision. Researchers are not immune to such bias although disciplined research methodology should help to protect them. Nonetheless, the scientific literature is littered with examples where researcher bias has seriously affected interpretation of data. The seminar will outline examples from the hearing science literature where such misinterpretation has occurred. The lesson to be learned is that researchers must acknowledge personal bias and take a critical and disciplined approach to the design, execution and interpretation of their studies. That includes application for research grant funding, where seeking to obtain a certain outcome inevitably introduces researcher bias.