Blind Analysis
Top of Mind with Julie Rose - Season 1, Episode 204 , Segment 3
Homeless Youth, Healthy Relationships, Changing Labor Laws
Episode: Homeless Youth, Healthy Relationships, Changing Labor Laws
- Jan 4, 2016 10:00 pm
- 18:18 mins
Guest: Robert MacCoun, PhD, Professor of Law at Stanford University You know how you can read over something you’ve written many times and never notice a typo until someone else points it out? Either you’re not looking for it or you just don’t see it because you don’t want to or don’t expect to. There’s a phenomenon in scientific research called “confirmation bias” where scientists get the result they expect to get. In myriad subtle – even unconscious ways – they tweak their analysis and hone in on the findings that match their hypotheses. In the journal Nature two renowned scientists – including a Nobel Prize laureate in Physics – called on researchers to adopt techniques to avoid the unconscious biases that make studies less reliable. “Blind analysis” should be the standard for all types of research, they say.