Research Bias

Experimenter's bias.

Published in:Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2018, Research Starters

By:Codington-Lacerte, Céleste

The results of experiments can be flawed or skewed because of a number of different biases. Those designing, conducting, or analyzing an experiment often hold expectations regarding the experiment’s outcome, such as hoping for an outcome that supports the initial hypothesis. Such expectations can shape how the experiment is structured, conducted, and/or interpreted, thereby affecting the outcome. This typically unconscious and unintentional phenomenon is known as experimenter’s bias.

The main types of experimenter’s bias include self-fulfilling prophecy, observer bias, and interpreter bias. Most modern social science and clinical experiments are designed with one or more safeguards in place to minimize the possibility of such biases distorting results.

Codington-Lacerte, Céleste. 2018. “Experimenter’s Bias.” Salem Press Encyclopedia, November. https://discovery.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=b31ebc22-668e-3754-9e67-48aba35e9e59.