Ways to Prevent Bias in Research
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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?
SAMPLE ANSWER
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 & 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).
References
Higgins, J.P.T. & Green, S. (2011). Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. London, England: The Cochrane Collaboration. Retrieved on 8th September 2016 from: http://handbook.cochrane.org/chapter_8/8_4_introduction_to_sources_of_bias_in_clinical_trials.htm
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. Retrieved on 8th September 2016 from: www.effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/reports/final.cfm.
Pannucci, C. J. & Wilkins, E. G. (2011). Identifying and Avoiding Bias in Research. Plastic Reconstruction Surgery, 126(2), 619-625. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0b013e3181de24bc
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