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This glossary of biology terms is a list of definitions of fundamental terms and concepts used in biology, the study of life and of living organisms.It is intended as introductory material for novices; for more specific and technical definitions from sub-disciplines and related fields, see Glossary of cell biology, Glossary of genetics, Glossary of evolutionary biology, Glossary of ecology ...
Observer bias is commonly only identified in the observers, however, there also exists a bias for those being studied. Named after a series of experiments conducted by Elton Mayo between 1924 and 1932, at the Western Electric factory in Hawthorne, Chicago, the Hawthorne effect symbolises where the participants in a study change their behaviour ...
There are multiple formal definitions of "inherent bias" which depend on the particular field of study. In statistics , the phrase is used in relation to an inability to measure accurately and directly what one would wish to measure, meaning that indirect measurements are used which might be subject to unknown distortions.
A variable in an experiment which is held constant in order to assess the relationship between multiple variables [a], is a control variable. [2] [3] A control variable is an element that is not changed throughout an experiment because its unchanging state allows better understanding of the relationship between the other variables being tested.
Selection bias refers to the problem that, at pre-test, differences between groups exist that may interact with the independent variable and thus be 'responsible' for the observed outcome. Researchers and participants bring to the experiment a myriad of characteristics, some learned and others inherent.
In statistics, the bias of an estimator (or bias function) is the difference between this estimator's expected value and the true value of the parameter being estimated. An estimator or decision rule with zero bias is called unbiased. In statistics, "bias" is an objective property of an estimator.
Detection bias occurs when a phenomenon is more likely to be observed for a particular set of study subjects. For instance, the syndemic involving obesity and diabetes may mean doctors are more likely to look for diabetes in obese patients than in thinner patients, leading to an inflation in diabetes among obese patients because of skewed detection efforts.
The theory of biases in the introduction process as a cause of orientation or direction in evolution has been explained as the convergence of two threads. [15] The first, from theoretical population genetics, is the explicit recognition by theoreticians (toward the end of the 20th century) that a correct treatment of evolutionary dynamics requires a rate-dependent process of introduction ...