Bias

Mrs. StewartCentral Magnet School

Honors Biology

Objectives / Standards:(You will be able to…)

SPI 3210: Inq 6. - Determine if and why a conclusion is free of bias

What is bias?

prejudice in favor of or against one thing, person, or group compared with another, usually in a way considered to be unfair

We tend to see what we want to see.

Mrs. Stewart’s Cousin

Pick your animal

Is there potential for bias?

At the soccer game last night, the referee was paid by central.

Where is the bias?

An engineer designs a new moulding for a prosthetic device. He claims this product is more comfortable and allows greater mobility of the prosthetic. He is also a bilateral (double) leg amputee and uses the product himself.He is attempting to market this product

Hippos: How could the engineer create a lack of bias?

Where is the bias?

Oreo receives claims that their Double Stuf cookies only have 1.8 times the amount of filling. Oreo has a scientist on staff conduct experiments to determine the validity of these results.The Oreo scientist determines that the claims are erroneous with no validity.

Turtles: How could Oreo investigate the claims without bias?

Prosthetic, Inc. is one of the top suppliers of a new prosthetic arm currently on the market. Orthotics and Prosthetics is their leading competitor. In their last annual report, Prosthetic, Inc. claimed that their profits have increased significantly more than Orthotics and Prosthetics’ profits. In the report, they posted the following graphs showing their profits and Orthotics and Prosthetics’ profits between the years 1998 to 2009.

Hippos: Find the biasABC.com, a website claiming to present important health care data, reported that the average blood sugar level before meals for Americans is 142 mg/dL, indicating that most Americans are either living with undiagnosed diabetes or are pre-diabetic.

Turtles: Find the bias

A local news station reported a study that found that motorcycles are the safest vehicles to drive while passenger cars are the most dangerous vehicles to drive. They used the following graph to support their claim.

Can you?

Determine if and why a conclusion is free of bias

Exit Ticket:

What should you consider when viewing a conclusion that includes graphic or statistical results?