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

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 statistics, a confounder (also confounding variable, confounding factor, extraneous determinant or lurking variable) is a variable that influences both the dependent variable and independent variable, causing a spurious association. Con ...

Algorithmic bias Algorithmic bias describes systematic and repeatable errors in a computer system that create " unfair" outcomes, such as "privileging" one category over another in ways different from the intended function of the algorithm. Bias can emerge from ...

, machine learning algorithms that exhibit politically unacceptable behavior *

Cultural bias Cultural bias is the phenomenon of interpreting and judging phenomena by standards inherent to one's own culture. The phenomenon is sometimes considered a problem central to social and human sciences, such as economics, psychology, anthropolog ...

, 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, refers to the tendency of a scientific study to support the interests of the study's financial sponsor. This phenomenon is recognized ...

, bias relative to the commercial interests of a study's financial sponsor *

Infrastructure bias In economics and social policy, infrastructure bias is the influence of the location and availability of pre-existing infrastructure, such as roads and telecommunications facilities, on social and economic development. In science, infrastructure bi ...

, 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 significant finding disturbs the balance ...

, bias toward publication of certain experimental results *

Bias (statistics) Statistical bias is a systematic tendency which causes differences between results and facts. The bias exists in numbers of the process of data analysis, including the source of the data, the estimator chosen, and the ways the data was analyzed. ...

, 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 s ...

, 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 every individual observer had an inherent bias when it came to measurements and observations. Astronomy The term originated in astronomy, when it was ...

, 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 isn't 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 or rationality in judgment. Individuals create their own "subjective reality" from their perception of the input. An individual's construction of reality, not the objective input, ...

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

Confirmation bias Confirmation bias is the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values. People display this bias when they select information that supports their views, ignorin ...

, tendency of people to favor information that confirm their beliefs of hypothesis ** See List of cognitive biases 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. In machine learning, one aims to construct algorithms that a ...

, the set of assumptions that a machine learner uses to predict outputs of given inputs that it has not encountered. *

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 part ...

, 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 active device in an amplifier. Many electronic devices, such as diodes, transistors and vacuum tubes, whose function is processin ...

, 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 active device in an amplifier. Many electronic devices, such as diodes, transistors and vacuum tubes, whose function is processin ...

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 Bias is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Landes department The following is a list of the 327 communes of the Landes department of France. The commune ...

, on the coast in southwestern France *

Bias, Lot-et-Garonne Bias (; oc, Biàs) is a commune in the Lot-et-Garonne department in southwestern France. Population See also *Communes of the Lot-et-Garonne department The following is a list of the 319 communes of the French department of Lot-et-Gar ...

, in southwestern France *

Bias, West Virginia Bias is an unincorporated community in Mingo County, West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers cla ...

, 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 hideo ...

, now called Daya Bay, in Guangdong Province, China *

Bias River The Beas River (Sanskrit: ; Hyphasis in Ancient Greek) is a river in north India. The river rises in the Himalayas in central Himachal Pradesh, India, and flows for some to the Sutlej River in the Indian state of Punjab. Its total length is ...

, a river in north-western India

People

Bias (mythology) In Greek mythology, Bias (; grc, Βίας; ) 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 murd ...

, multiple figures in Greek mythology *

Bias Brahmin The Bias brahmin is a Brahmin community found in the Indian states of Haryana, Punjab, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. Origin The Bias brahmin community migrated from Gujarat centuries ago and got settled in Haryana, Punjab, Utta ...

, a Brahmin community found in India *

Bias of Priene Bias (; Greek: Βίας ὁ Πριηνεύς; fl. 6th century BC) of Priene was a Greek sage. He is widely accepted as one of the Seven Sages of Greece and was renowned for his probity. Life Bias was born at Priene (modern-day Güllübahçe, Tur ...

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

Iphicrates Iphicrates ( grc-gre, Ιφικράτης; c. 418 BC – c. 353 BC) 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 ...

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 O ...

(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 who attended the University of Maryland. During his four years playing for Maryland, he was named a first-team All-American. Two days after being selec ...

(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 d ...

(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 closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair. Biases can be innate or learned. People may develop biases for or against an individual, a group ...

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

Bremer Institut für angewandte Strahltechnik Bremen Institute for Applied Beam Technology (German: Bremer Institut für angewandte Strahltechnik) is a private sector research institute, located in the city of Bremen, Germany. It was founded on July 1, 1977 as a premier laser institute, which ...

(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 Birla Institute of Applied Sciences (BIAS), is a higher education institute located in Bhimtal, Uttarakhand, India. It is a sister institute to the Birla Institute of Technology Mesra, Ranchi. Formerly affiliated to Kumaon University, it is aff ...

(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 batis (bird), batises in the famil ...

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 grai ...

of a woven fabric, the 45-degree diagonal line along which it is most stretchable *

Bias frame In digital photography, a bias frame is an image obtained from an opto-electronic image sensor, with no actual exposure time. The image so obtained only contains unwanted signal due to the electronics that elaborate the sensor data, and not unwant ...

, 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 is the bias of journalists and news producers within the mass media in the selection of many events and stories that are reported and how they are covered. The term "media bias" implies a pervasive or widespread bias contravening ...

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