observer bias

Examples of observer bias in the following topics:

• General Strengths and Limitations of Trait Perspectives

  • One strength of the trait perspectives is their ability to categorize observable behaviors.
  • Researchers have found that examining the aggregate behaviors of individuals provides a strong correlation with traits; in other words, observing the behaviors of an individual over time and in varying circumstances provides evidence for the personality traits categorized in trait theories.
  • Another limitation of trait theories is that they require personal observations or subjective self-reports to measure.
  • Personal observation measures require that an individual spend enough time observing someone else in a number of situations to be able to provide an accurate assessment of their behaviors.
  • Both of these measures are subjective and can fall prey to observer bias and other forms of inaccuracy.

• Social Psychology

  • The field is also concerned with common cognitive biases—such as the fundamental attribution error, the actor-observer bias, the self-serving bias, and the just-world hypothesis—that influence our behavior and our perceptions of events.

• Observation

  • Participant observation involves the researcher joining a sample of individuals without interfering with that group's normal activities in order to document their routine behavior or observe them in a natural context.
  • Often researchers in observational studies will try to blend in seamlessly with the sample group to avoid compromising the results of their observations.
  • These observations also capture behavior that is more natural than behavior occurring in the artificial setting of a lab and that is relatively free of some of the bias seen in survey responses.
  • There are also ethical concerns related to observing individuals without their consent.
  • Without the use of multiple researchers, the chances of observer bias increase; because behavior is perceived so subjectively, it is possible that two observers will notice different things or draw different conclusions from the same behavior.

• Attribution

  • consistency, or how frequently the individual's behavior can be observed with a similar stimulus but in a different situation.
  • Based on these three pieces of information, observers will make a decision as to whether the individual's behavior is either internal or external. 
  • People are susceptible to bias and error when making attributions about themselves and others.
  • A few common such biases include the fundamental attribution error, the self-serving bias, the actor-observer bias, and the just-world hypothesis.
  • The actor-observer bias explains the phenomenon of attributing other people’s behavior to internal factors while attributing our own behavior to external or situational forces, also known as the fundamental attribution error (Jones & Nisbett, 1971; Nisbett, Caputo, Legant, & Marecek, 1973; Choi & Nisbett, 1998).

• Cultural Influences on Perception

  • Attribution theory, also called actor-observer bias, focuses on the attribution or causes of an action.
  • The Egocentric bias causes individuals to think more positively about themselves than others think of them.
  • The Over-confidence bias causes individuals to overestimate their own confidence.
  • The Status Quo bias demonstrates that individuals give preference to things which are familiar.
  • The Ingroup bias shows a preference for individuals who are in one's own group affiliation.

• Heuristics and Cognitive Biases

  • When interpreting data, a researcher must avoid cognitive bias and be aware of the use of heuristics to avoid drawing incorrect conclusions.
  • However, this heuristic can introduce bias in research, in which it is by definition important to remain an objective observer.
  • A cognitive bias is the mind's tendency to come to incorrect conclusions based on a variety of factors.
  • Hindsight bias occurs in psychological research when researchers form "post hoc hypotheses."
  • Confirmation bias is especially dangerous in psychological research.

• Methods for Researching Human Development

  • To study changes in individuals over time, developmental psychologists use systematic observation, including naturalistic or structured observation; self-reports, which could be clinical interviews or structured observation; clinical or case study methods; and ethnography or participant observation.
  • Data can be collected through the use of interviews, structured questionnaires, observation, and test scores.
  • This particular approach is an excellent way to better understand individuals who are exceptional in some way, but it is especially prone to researcher bias in interpretation, and it is difficult to generalize conclusions to the larger population.
  • In a longitudinal study, a researcher observes many individuals born at or around the same time (a cohort) and carries out new observations as members of the cohort age.
  • In a longitudinal study, a researcher observes many individuals born at or around the same time and observes them as they age.

• Experimental Research

  • There are key components that must be included in every experiment: the inclusion of a comparison group (known as a "control group"), the use of random assignment, and efforts to eliminate bias.
  • When workers were observed in additional lighting they were more productive, but only because they were being watched.
  • If a control group was also observed with no additional lighting this effect would have been obvious.
  • If a researcher expects certain results from an experiment and accordingly unknowingly influences the subjects' responses, this is called demand bias.
  • To counteract experimenter bias, the subjects can be kept uninformed on the intentions of the experiment, which is called single blinding.

• Psychology and the Scientific Method

  • A theory can be used to make predictions about future observations.
  • Critical thinking also helps to identify prejudices (as well as eliminate or minimize them), and it helps people to see and change any bias they may have about a particular concept.
  • Because of this, critical thinking and the use of the scientific method is especially important in psychology because it helps to minimize prejudice, bias, and other cognitive errors that often come with the examination of such subjective concepts.

• Biases in Experimental Design: Validity, Reliability, and Other Issues

  • Research studies with small sample sizes, high variability, and sampling bias are usually not representative of the general population.
  • A study's external validity can be threatened by such factors as small sample sizes, high variability, and sampling bias.
  • Sampling bias occurs when the sample participating in the study is not representative of the general population.
  • Response bias (also known as "self-selection bias") occurs when only certain types of people respond to a survey or study.
  • Many of the admittedly "non-scientific" polls taken on television or websites suffer from response bias.