Avoiding Bias in Research
In qualitative research, topic choices are sometimes based on personal investment and a desire to solve a known problem rather than a desire to add to the scholarly knowledge of the issue at hand. Our humanness can have positive and negative impacts on the effectiveness of our research designs. Now that you have watched a discussion about addressing bias in research topic development, reflect on the potential for bias in your own topic development and describe how you might counteract it.
Provide your organizational issue and purpose,( The area of interest was chosen because there is a shift in higher educational institutions globally, from the use of traditional face-to-face presentations to online and hybrid sessions.) including as many specifics about your sources of data and collection methods as you can. Include questions you would ask in a focus group or individual interviews to gather information to answer your research questions and identify the roles of the interviewees. Suggest possible literature review topics or theories.
Then, answer the following questions:
- What are your views on this topic, problem, sample, and research site?
- How might your views create a bias in planning, conducting, and reporting research?
- What strategies might you take to avoid imposing your bias on the proposed study and findings?
