Ways to Prevent Bias in Research
The writer will respond to this question bellow accordingly in a 1 page word documents using APA 6th
edition.
All researchers must watch out for bias in designing their project,�writing the literature
review,�conducting the project,�and writing up the results.
How can you help yourself to prevent bias in your project in those four phases?
PREVENTING BIAS IN RESEARCH 2
Ways to Prevent Bias in Research
Incidents of partiality both deliberately or accidentally when conducting a research,
usually lead to bias in the research and its outcomes are not only inaccurate but also unreliable
(Higgins & Green, 2011). According to Pannucci & Wilkins (2011), bias in research concerns
systemic distortion of research interventions arising from inadequacies in designing and
conducting a project, as well as reporting of the project results. This has far reaching effect from
a business perspective, since decision-making on basis of these faulty results and conclusions
obtained from a biased research can lead loss of profits or inability to solve operational or
organizational problems (Higgins & Green, 2011). Bias can affect the research process at any
stage, which means it should be prevented at all costs (McDonagh et al., 2013). In this response
prevention of bias will be considered at four phases of a project such as designing the project,
writing the literature review, conducting the project, and writing up the results.
Research bias arising from designing the project can be prevented through careful
planning of the research design by studying the study group’s limitations. All category groups
should then be chosen in order to avoid biasness (Pannucci & Wilkins, 2011). In addition, a keen
consideration must also be given to the nature and scope of the research to ensure that all
variables envisaged to arise from the study are reviewed in order to avoid experimental errors
and subsequently biased results (McDonagh et al., 2013). The research design should be
objective and random to ensure that the selected sample is a representative of the target
population. Bias in writing literature review can be prevented through compliance to a stipulated
inclusion and exclusion criteria for the research articles to be reviewed including the research
design, language, setting, sample size as well as research interventions employed (Higgins &
PREVENTING BIAS IN RESEARCH 3
Green, 2011). The researcher should also avoid relying on one source of information when
reviewing the literature, and thus should utilize online databases in order to access a vast range
of research articles (McDonagh et al., 2013).
Furthermore, when conducting the project, the researcher can prevent bias by ensuring
that a sizeable and representative sample is selected. Procedural and measurement bias can also
be prevented by ensuring that, the research instruments such as questionnaires are sufficient and
the respondents are allowed to amicably respond to all the questions (Higgins & Green, 2011).
The research participants should not be pressurized to answer questions and their privacy and
confidentiality should be assured to avoid impartiality. Finally, bias in writing up the results can
be prevented by accurately recording the obtained, and reporting them without alterations to suit
the intended or expected outcome (McDonagh et al., 2013). In conclusion, when these
precautions are adhered to, bias which threaten or negatively impact accuracy and reliability of
research findings can be prevented. A researcher, must therefore, be objective-minded and
neutral in carrying out a research to avoid bias (Pannucci & Wilkins, 2011).
PREVENTING BIAS IN RESEARCH 4
References
Higgins, J.P.T. & Green, S. (2011). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of
Interventions. London, England: The Cochrane Collaboration.
McDonagh, M., Peterson, K., Raina, P., Chang, S., & Shekelle, P. (2013). Avoiding Bias in
Selecting Studies. Methods Guide for Comparative Effectiveness Reviews. (Prepared by
the Oregon Health & Science University, McMaster University, and Southern California
Evidence-based Practice Centers under Contract No. 290-2007-10057-I.) AHRQ
Publication No. 13-EHC045-EF. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality; February 2013.
Pannucci, C. J. & Wilkins, E. G. (2011). Identifying and Avoiding Bias in Research. Plastic
Reconstruction Surgery, 126(2), 619-625.
