Algebra 2 - Bias

Question

A sleep lab wants to know how many hours of sleep people are getting in the state of Maine. The lab uses census data to create proportionally sized groups of various ages, races, genders, locations, and income levels within the state. People in each group are asked to record how much sleep they get every Monday night for eight weeks.

Which option shows the factor, and reasoning, that would most likely cause bias in the results of the study?

1. The population sample may yield bias. Certain groups may be underrepresented or overrepresented in the study.

 

2. The length of the study may yield bias. Eight weeks may not be sufficient time to record sleeping habits.

 

3. The recording method may yield bias. People may be more likely to sleep more on certain nights of the week than on others.

 

4. The recording method may yield bias. People may not accurately record how much sleep they get.

Answer 1

The 4th option is most likely to cause problems for this study. Going through the options one by one and eliminating them can help us be certain of this. The 1st option doesn't make sense because the problem explicitly states that various identities will all be included and proportionately sized so the population sample should be representative. The 2nd option isn't obviously wrong but 8 instances is a relatively good number when working with a larger sample size and the 4th option ultimately makes more sense. The 3rd option also makes sense as a critique but as long as the study acknowledges the issue and specifically works with the understanding that a Monday night and a Saturday night wouldn't be exactly the same, it can avert these issues. In the end, the 4th option poses the biggest problem because it's innate to the concept of the study. While these other factors can be controlled for and accepted, self-reporting sleep habits is automatically going to be somewhat inaccurate. People don't accurately perceive how much they sleep and often underestimate it because the nature of falling asleep is that you cannot be conscious of the moment it occurs. And since the question explicitly asks about bias, we can point to the 4th option as the one most likely to cause issues specifically rooted in bias.