The researcher’s blind spot: 6 cognitive biases we shouldn’t ignore in research
There are cognitive biases lurking everywhere in the research process. Cognitive biases are psychological tendencies that cause the human brain to draw incorrect conclusions.
We all want our research to provide reliable input into our projects and most of us wouldn’t deliberately distort data. Yet, we’re human, and we’re all susceptible to many cognitive biases that can affect the outcomes at any stage of our projects. Biases is unavoidable, but being a good researcher is about understanding our inherent biases and how we can minimise the effects.
Distorted or misleading results can be very detrimental to a project. It can misinform the direction of a project, or provide false confidence about decisions.
This session will highlight five common cognitive biases in research, from recruitment, to the actual sessions, and the analysis and reporting of research findings. This will be illustrated with examples and stories, along with how we can minimise the bias.