Bias Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is inaccurate, closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individ ...

is an inclination toward something, or a predisposition, partiality, prejudice, preference, or predilection. Bias may also refer to:

Scientific method and statistics

* The bias introduced into an experiment through a

confounder In causal inference, a confounder is a variable that influences both the dependent variable and independent variable, causing a spurious association. Confounding is a causal concept, and as such, cannot be described in terms of correlation ...

Algorithmic bias Algorithmic bias describes systematic and repeatable harmful tendency in a computerized sociotechnical system to create " unfair" outcomes, such as "privileging" one category over another in ways different from the intended function of the a ...

, machine learning algorithms that exhibit politically unacceptable behavior *

Cultural bias Cultural bias is the interpretation and judgment of phenomena by the standards of one's own culture. It is sometimes considered a problem central to social and human sciences, such as economics, psychology, anthropology, and sociology. Some practit ...

, interpreting and judging phenomena in terms particular to one's own culture *

Funding bias Funding bias, also known as sponsorship bias, funding outcome bias, funding publication bias, and funding effect, is a tendency of a scientific study to support the interests of the study's financial sponsor. This phenomenon is recognized sufficie ...

, bias relative to the commercial interests of a study's financial sponsor * Reactivity bias, a bias resulting from participants behaving differently when they know they are being observed. In survey research this is sometimes called

response bias Response bias is a general term for a wide range of tendencies for participants to respond inaccurately or falsely to questions. These biases are prevalent in research involving participant self-report, such as structured interviews or surveys. R ...

. **

Hawthorne effect The Hawthorne effect is a type of human behavior reactivity in which individuals modify an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed. The effect was discovered in the context of research conducted at the Hawthorn ...

, often relates to improving performance in response to an intervention **

John Henry effect The John Henry effect is an experimental bias introduced into social experiments by reactive behavior by the control group. In a controlled social experiment if a control is aware of their status as members of the control group and is able to com ...

, sometimes relates to a behavioural change due to rivalry between groups, which may have negative outcomes **

Observer-expectancy effect The observer-expectancy effect is a form of reactivity in which a researcher's cognitive bias causes them to subconsciously influence the participants of an experiment. Confirmation bias can lead to the experimenter interpreting results incorr ...

, is when researcher expectations influence participant behaviour (see also

Pygmalion effect The Pygmalion effect is a psychological phenomenon in which high expectations lead to improved performance in a given area. It is named after the Greek myth of Pygmalion, the sculptor who fell so much in love with the perfectly beautiful statue he ...

) **

Social-desirability bias In social science research social-desirability bias is a type of response bias that is the tendency of survey respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others. It can take the form of over-reporting "good behav ...

, is when participants adapt their behaviour to what they perceive to be social norms and expectations * Infrastructure bias, the influence of existing social or scientific infrastructure on scientific observations *

Publication bias In published academic research, publication bias occurs when the outcome of an experiment or research study biases the decision to publish or otherwise distribute it. Publishing only results that show a Statistical significance, significant find ...

, bias toward publication of certain experimental results *

Bias (statistics) In the field of statistics, bias is a systematic tendency in which the methods used to gather data and estimate a sample statistic present an inaccurate, skewed or distorted ('' biased'') depiction of reality. Statistical bias exists in numer ...

, the systematic distortion of a statistic **

Biased sample In statistics, sampling bias is a bias in which a sample is collected in such a way that some members of the intended population have a lower or higher sampling probability than others. It results in a biased sample of a population (or non-human ...

, a sample falsely taken to be typical of a population **

Estimator bias In statistics, the bias of an estimator (or bias function) is the difference between this estimator's expected value and the true value of the parameter being estimated. An estimator or decision rule with zero bias is called ''unbiased''. In stat ...

, a bias from an estimator whose expectation differs from the true value of the parameter *

Personal equation The term personal equation, in 19th- and early 20th-century science, referred to the idea that different observers have different reaction times, which can introduce bias when it comes to measurements and observations. Astronomy The term origi ...

, a concept in 19th- and early 20th-century science that each observer had an inherent bias when it came to measurements and observations *

Reporting bias In epidemiology, reporting bias is defined as "selective revealing or suppression of information" by subjects (for example about past medical history, smoking, sexual experiences). In artificial intelligence research, the term reporting bias is u ...

, a bias resulting from what is and is not reported in research, either by participants in the research or by the researcher.

Cognitive science

Cognitive bias A cognitive bias is a systematic pattern of deviation from norm (philosophy), norm or rationality in judgment. Individuals create their own "subjective reality" from their perception of the input. An individual's construction of reality, not the ...

, any of a wide range of effects identified in cognitive science. **

Confirmation bias Confirmation bias (also confirmatory bias, myside bias, or congeniality bias) is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or Value (ethics and social sciences), val ...

, tendency of people to favor information that confirm their beliefs of hypothesis ** See

List of cognitive biases Cognitive biases are systematic patterns of deviation from norm and/or rationality in judgment. They are often studied in psychology, sociology and behavioral economics. Although the reality of most of these biases is confirmed by reproducible ...

for a comprehensive list

Mathematics and engineering

Exponent bias In IEEE 754 floating-point numbers, the exponent is biased in the engineering sense of the word – the value stored is offset from the actual value by the exponent bias, also called a biased exponent. Biasing is done because exponents have to be ...

, the constant offset of an exponent's value *

Inductive bias The inductive bias (also known as learning bias) of a learning algorithm is the set of assumptions that the learner uses to predict outputs of given inputs that it has not encountered. Inductive bias is anything which makes the algorithm learn o ...

, the set of assumptions that a machine learner uses to predict outputs of given inputs that it has not encountered. * Weight and bias, two terms used to describe parameters in a

neural network A neural network is a group of interconnected units called neurons that send signals to one another. Neurons can be either biological cells or signal pathways. While individual neurons are simple, many of them together in a network can perfor ...

. *

Seat bias Seat bias is a property describing methods of apportionment. These are methods used to allocate seats in a parliament among federal states or among political parties. A method is ''biased'' if it systematically favors small parties over large par ...

, any bias in a method of apportionment that favors either large or small parties over the other

Electricity

Biasing In electronics, biasing is the setting of DC (direct current) operating conditions (current and voltage) of an electronic component that processes time-varying signals. Many electronic devices, such as diodes, transistors and vacuum tubes, wh ...

, a voltage or current added to an electronic device to move its operating point to a desired part of its transfer function *

Grid bias In electronics, biasing is the setting of DC (direct current) operating conditions (current and voltage) of an electronic component that processes time-varying signals. Many electronic devices, such as diodes, transistors and vacuum tubes, wh ...

of a vacuum tube, used to control the electron flow from the heated cathode to the positively charged anode *

Tape bias Tape bias is the term for two techniques, AC bias and DC bias, that improve the fidelity of analogue tape recorders. DC bias is the addition of direct current to the audio signal that is being recorded. AC bias is the addition of an inaudi ...

(also AC bias), a high-frequency signal (generally from 40 to 150 kHz) added to the audio signal recorded on an analog tape recorder

Places

* Bias, Landes, on the coast in southwestern France * Bias, Lot-et-Garonne, in southwestern France * Bias, West Virginia, a community in the United States *

Bias Bay Daya Bay (), formerly known as Bias Bay, is a bay of the South China Sea on the south coast of Guangdong Province in China. It is bordered by Shenzhen's Dapeng Peninsula to the west and Huizhou to the north and east. History The bay was a hideou ...

, now called Daya Bay, in Guangdong Province, China * Bias River, a river in north-western India

People

Bias (mythology) In Greek mythology, Bias (; ; ) may refer to the following characters: * Bias, a Megarian prince as a son of King Lelex and brother to Cleson and Pterelaus. He was killed by his nephew Pylas, also a Megarian king. After the murder, Pylas gave ...

, multiple figures in Greek mythology *

Bias Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). The traditional occu ...

, a Brahmin community found in India *

Bias of Priene Bias (; ) of Priene was a Greek sage. He is widely accepted as one of the Seven Sages of Greece and spent his life working as a legal advocate free of charge for those who had been wronged. He also served as an envoy for Priene during mediation ...

, one of the Seven Sages of Greece * Bias, a Spartan commander caught in an ambush by the Athenian general

Iphicrates Iphicrates (; ) was an Athenian general, who flourished in the earlier half of the 4th century BC. He is credited with important infantry reforms that revolutionized ancient Greek warfare by regularizing light-armed peltasts. Cornelius Nepos w ...

Fanny Bias Anne-Françoise Bias, known as Fanny Bias ( – ), was a dancer at the Paris Opera from 1807 to 1825. She was one of the first dancers to use the pointe technique. Biography Bias was born in Paris, France, and trained at the Paris Op ...

(1789–1825), French dancer, one of the first who raised on pointes *

Len Bias Leonard Kevin Bias (November 18, 1963June 19, 1986) was an American college basketball player for the Maryland Terrapins. In the last of his four years playing for Maryland, he was named a consensus first-team All-American. Two days after being s ...

(1963–1986), American basketball player * Oliver Bias (born 2001), footballer *

Tiffany Bias Tiffany Christine Bias (born May 22, 1992) is an American-Thai professional basketball player who last played for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was selected in the second round of the 2014 WNBA dr ...

(born 1992), Thai basketball player

Organisations

BIAS Bias is a disproportionate weight ''in favor of'' or ''against'' an idea or thing, usually in a way that is inaccurate, closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individ ...

(Berkley Integrated Audio Software), a software company specializing in sound processing software such as Peak and SoundSoap *

Bremer Institut für angewandte Strahltechnik Bremer may refer to: People *Bremer (surname) *Bremer Ehrler (1914–2013), American politician * Bremer (born 1997), Brazilian footballer Places ;Australia *Bremer Bay, Western Australia *Bremer Marine Park * Bremer Island *Bremer River (disambig ...

(BIAS), a research institute dedicated to applied laser optics * Belgian International Air Services (BIAS), a former airline from Belgium (1959–80) * Birla Institute of Applied Sciences (BIAS), a higher education institute located in Bhimtal, Uttaranchal, India

In other areas

* ''Bias'' (book), a book by journalist Bernard Goldberg * ''Bias'' (bird), the genus of the

black-and-white shrike-flycatcher The black-and-white shrike-flycatcher (''Bias musicus''), also known as the black-and-white flycatcher or vanga flycatcher, is a species of passerine bird found in Africa. It was placed with the wattle-eyes and batises in the family Platysteiri ...

Bias (textile) For woven textiles, grain refers to the orientation of the weft and warp threads. The three named grains are straight grain, cross grain, and the bias grain. In sewing, a pattern piece can be cut from fabric in any orientation, and the chosen gr ...

of a woven fabric, the 45-degree diagonal line along which it is most stretchable * Bias frame, an image obtained from an opto-electronic image sensor, with no actual exposure time *

Bias ratio (finance) The bias ratio is an indicator used in finance to analyze the returns of investment portfolios, and in performing due diligence. The bias ratio is a concrete metric that detects valuation bias or deliberate price manipulation of portfolio assets ...

, an indicator used in finance to analyze the returns of investment portfolios, and in performing due diligence *

Media bias Media bias occurs when journalists and news producers show bias in how they report and cover news. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening of the standards of journalism, rather than the perspective of an ...

, the influence journalists and news producers have in selecting stories to report and how they are covered