{"id":22013,"date":"2019-04-26T15:44:27","date_gmt":"2019-04-26T09:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/?p=22013"},"modified":"2021-05-14T15:38:25","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T09:38:25","slug":"how-to-avoid-bias-in-qualitative-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.enago.com\/academy\/how-to-avoid-bias-in-qualitative-research\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Avoid Bias in Qualitative Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

You can also listen to this article as an audio recording.<\/p>\n\n

Research bias<\/a> occurs when researchers try to influence the results of their work, in order to get the outcome they want. Often, researchers may not be aware they are doing this. Whether they are aware or not, such behavior clearly severely affects the impartiality of a study and greatly reduces the value of the results.<\/p>\n

The Issues in Qualitative Research<\/h2>\n

Recently, I discussed the problem of bias with a researcher friend.<\/p>\n

\u201cI heard that research bias is a bigger problem for qualitative research than quantitative research.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy is that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cQualitative research relies more on the experience and judgment of the researcher. Also, the type of data collected is subjective and unique to the person or situation. So it is much harder to avoid bias than in quantitative research.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAre there ways to avoid bias?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA good start is to recognize that bias exists in all research. We can then try to predict what type of bias we might have in our study, and try to avoid it as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

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