What do you do if your decision-making process as a researcher is influenced by biases?

1 Cognitive biases

Cognitive biases are mental shortcuts or errors that affect how you process and remember information. They can lead you to rely on assumptions, stereotypes, or heuristics that may not be accurate or relevant. For example, confirmation bias is the tendency to seek and accept information that confirms your existing beliefs, and ignore or reject information that contradicts them. This can affect how you formulate your research questions, design your methods, and analyze your results. To reduce cognitive biases, you should be aware of your own assumptions and preferences, seek diverse and credible sources of information, and challenge your own and others' views with critical thinking and feedback.

3 Social biases

Social biases are influences that affect how you interact and communicate with others. They can lead you to conform to the norms and expectations of your social environment, or to favor people who are similar or related to you. For example, groupthink is the tendency to agree with the majority or the leader of a group, and avoid dissent or conflict. This can affect how you collaborate and exchange ideas with your peers and stakeholders, and how you present and justify your decisions. To avoid social biases, you should encourage diversity and inclusion in your team, foster a culture of openness and dialogue, and respect and consider different opinions and perspectives.

4 Framing effects

Framing effects are influences that affect how you perceive and respond to information depending on how it is presented or worded. They can lead you to make different decisions based on the same information, depending on whether it is framed positively or negatively, or whether it emphasizes gains or losses. For example, loss aversion is the tendency to prefer avoiding losses over acquiring equivalent gains, and to be more sensitive to losses than to gains. This can affect how you evaluate risks and opportunities, and how you choose among alternatives. To minimize framing effects, you should be aware of the context and wording of the information, compare and contrast different frames and scenarios, and use objective and consistent criteria and standards.

5 Heuristics and biases

Heuristics are simple rules or strategies that help you make quick and easy decisions, especially when you have limited time, information, or resources. However, heuristics can also lead to biases, which are deviations from rationality or optimality. For example, availability heuristic is the tendency to judge the likelihood or frequency of an event based on how easily you can recall or imagine examples of it. This can affect how you estimate probabilities and uncertainties, and how you generalize from your experience. To counteract heuristics and biases, you should be aware of the limitations and pitfalls of your intuition, seek and verify relevant and reliable data, and use analytical and statistical tools and methods.

6 Decision-making skills

Decision-making skills are the abilities and techniques that help you make effective and informed decisions as a researcher. They involve identifying and defining the problem, gathering and evaluating information, generating and comparing alternatives, choosing and implementing the best option, and monitoring and reviewing the outcomes. To improve your decision-making skills, you should follow a systematic and transparent process, involve and consult relevant stakeholders, consider the ethical and practical implications, and document and communicate your rationale and results.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?