How Can Confirmation Bias Lead To Errors In Research

Theories are a series of interconnected proposals. Theories are an effort to describe, explain, predict, and finally control a period of events. We are able to base our experiments and select the contenders for the experiments off of our theories. We are able to test our theories by how well the cumulated data describes, relates to and predicts reality. Theories act as patterns for interpreting specific data that we may refer back to. These patterns ensure we stay on topic and are able to obtain the proper results needed to verify our theories.

8. In exploring the certainty with which people hold their beliefs a researcher proposes that those with more information about the topic will be more certain about their belief about that topic. Half of the participants are given 20 facts about a topic and are asked about their belief about that topic. The other half of the participants are given 5 facts about a topic and are asked about the strength of their belief about that topic.

Confirmation bias is a huge detriment to receiving accurate data in which the data is influenced by human error. Confirmation bias is seeking evidence to confirm our preconceived notions, and interpreting ambiguous evidence in favor of our ideas. Another way of saying this is having an expectation or opinion going into an event, and using as much clues as we can to back up that opinion. This is very inaccurate because you may have tunnel vision when analyzing an event, instead of looking at it as a whole. A great example of confirmation bias is when a teacher initially believes a

There are many everyday examples of people using confirmation bias behavior. A student doing research on only one side to an argument for a paper to confirm their thesis may fail to fully search the topic for information that is inconsistent with what they are writing about. Also a reporter who is writing an article on an important issue may only interview

Confirmation Bias: only explore information that supports our ideas Hindsight Bias: reporting untruthfully that we projected an outcome Availability Heuristic: calculating possibilities grounded on ease of recall Base-Rate Fallacy: disregarding information about universal principles Representativeness Heuristic: making decisions grounded on stereotypes

Confirmation bias occurs from the direct influence of desire on beliefs. When people would like a certain idea/concept to be true, they end up believing it to be true. People tend to be motivated by wishful thinking. This error leads the individual to stop gathering information when the evidence gathered so far confirms the views (prejudices) one would like to be true (Heshmat, 2015). Therefore, is very important for people to use their critical thinking skills. Good critical thinking skills required that we evaluate evidence thoroughly and be aware of social and cognitive errors in our thinking to effectively evaluate any given situation. And avoid jumping to a conclusion or acting quickly based on preconceived ideas (Boss,

In this “age of misinformation,” it is very hard to know what your read is true. A common misconception stated in the article is " if its on the internet, it must be true.” This cant be the situation, more people need to realize that not everything on the internet is true and they need to be sure what they are seeing is true. One way to find out if what you are reading is true is to look who the author is. There are many reputable authors that tell the truth and don't bend it. If you are unsure who the author is, it might be a good idea to research the topic. It would be best to find different articles with different authors. Some steps to take to protect yourself from “confirmation bias” are only believing things that have evidence or proof.

Confirmation bias is an impediment is a constant battle in life. When finding a solution to a problem, I search for the easiest yet logical solution. This does not always work due to the fact I am not always right or that I did not look at all the variables. Like how I thought I could repair the oven because it wouldn’t work for me. I was sure the oven was broken and the thought I had to repair it, I did not realize that I was operating in incorrectly. This caused me to destroy a perfectly good oven and wasting money on a new one. Some strategies I have tried to counteract this impediment have proven successful when used. One thing I try to do is instead of making a decision immediately I take time and step away from the issue and think it

Throughout this course I have learned many things about research at an introductory level. Research is a critical part of all of our lives in many ways. God blesses each of us with a degree of common sense and we all learn from observing others even as babies, we learned behaviors and skills by observing our parents. Walking through experiences throughout life teach us a lot we need to know as well but sometimes we have to take a better approach when we need to learn about certain things. Many of us know that what works in some situations or with certain individuals doesn’t always work or is the safest option for another situation. Controlled and precisely organized study allows scientists to compare and examine contrasting methods and concepts, also helps them to discover various approaches and be able to learn from individual’s behaviors and experiences. I will act as the case study throughout this paper in order to observe what I have learned about.

A theory is an explanation of why or how things are related to each other (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). Additionally, a theory is defined as a plausible or scientifically acceptable principle, or a body of principles, offered to explain phenomena (Merriam-Webster Dictionary, 2017). Furthermore, crime theories examine and attempt to identify relationships among humans, criminal behavior, and specific factors such as biological factors, psychological factors, sociological factors, and economic factors (Bohm & Vogel, 2011). Since we have defined a theory, let us further discuss how theories are created beginning with the components of a theory.

The difference between a theory and a model is that a theory is related to evidence based knowledge and a model is built on this knowledge although it is presented as a process to reach certain targets.

A hypothesis (literally Greek for "under proposition") is a prediction of what will happen in an experiment, essentially an educated guess. You're in chemistry, right? I hypothesize that when I drop Mentos into Diet Coke, there will be a reaction. Then, I conduct the experiment to determine whether my hypothesis is true or false. Hypothesis is like a prediction so for example if its for a science lab my hypothesis can be like this...I think the density of the egg is going to be more than the density of the 3 parts of the egg...just for example so its basically what you think is going to happen your prediction.

A theory is primarily meant to explain or predict an event, behaviour or outcome. Proponents of a theory look for evidence to support the theory. This evidence should be independently observed and consistent after repeated observations. Some theories are speculative or ideas or guesses floated to encourage researchers to undertake the observations required to prove or disprove the theory. The question often debated is what comes

Scholarly researchers will form a hypothesis, and then while referring back to previous research or writing by other academics or scholars, conduct research on the hypothesis in order to make their information available to the rest of the scholars. Unlike scholarly research, anecdotal evidence is something that is experienced by the researcher and is not considered very reliable. According to Mossler (2014) “Anecdotal evidence is not a substitute for good research. Only controlled experimental studies can properly answer the question of cause and effect.” (p. 48)

The theory is one of the most important aspects of science; are the backbone of science. From the definition of science, we have seen that it is a systematic manner of generating knowledge. Theories help to elaborate the observed phenomenon regarding what is known; they predict the unknown, and in the end, they come up with a conclusion or a new format of the situation. Theories also help to show the scope of the observed conditions as well as interactions of the situation with other entities. Therefore, theory plays the role of enabling of the formulation of hypothesis in science which are later tested using the systematic approach to science.