Book contents
- Bias!
- Bias!
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Synopsis
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 All at Sea
- Chapter 2 Are Scientists Inherently Biased?
- Chapter 3 Biased Research in Recent Times – Even among Some of the Brightest
- Chapter 4 Bias in the Research Question Asked
- Chapter 5 Research Participation Bias
- Chapter 6 Bias in Study Subjects
- Chapter 7 Compared to What?
- Chapter 8 Bias in the Study Conduct
- Chapter 9 Bias in the Conduct of Animal Studies
- Chapter 10 Bias in Statistical Analysis
- Chapter 11 Bias in Study Interpretation
- Chapter 12 Bias in the Dissemination of Study Results
- Chapter 13 Bias in Pooling Data from Multiple Studies
- Chapter 14 Bias in Randomized Controlled Trials
- Chapter 15 Bias in Genetic Studies
- Chapter 16 Bias in Pandemic Studies
- Chapter 17 Bias in Pharmaco-epidemiology Studies
- Chapter 18 Recognizing and Mitigating Bias
- 19 Afterword
- Notes and Sources
- Index
19 - Afterword
How Bias Threatens the Search for Truth
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 April 2026
Book contents
- Bias!
- Bias!
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Synopsis
- Contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 All at Sea
- Chapter 2 Are Scientists Inherently Biased?
- Chapter 3 Biased Research in Recent Times – Even among Some of the Brightest
- Chapter 4 Bias in the Research Question Asked
- Chapter 5 Research Participation Bias
- Chapter 6 Bias in Study Subjects
- Chapter 7 Compared to What?
- Chapter 8 Bias in the Study Conduct
- Chapter 9 Bias in the Conduct of Animal Studies
- Chapter 10 Bias in Statistical Analysis
- Chapter 11 Bias in Study Interpretation
- Chapter 12 Bias in the Dissemination of Study Results
- Chapter 13 Bias in Pooling Data from Multiple Studies
- Chapter 14 Bias in Randomized Controlled Trials
- Chapter 15 Bias in Genetic Studies
- Chapter 16 Bias in Pandemic Studies
- Chapter 17 Bias in Pharmaco-epidemiology Studies
- Chapter 18 Recognizing and Mitigating Bias
- 19 Afterword
- Notes and Sources
- Index
Summary
Early methods of determining the truth simply relied on the size of association. Modern approaches used Koch’s postulates for infectious disease and the Bradford-Hill criteria for chronic disease. In the latter, documentation of an association between risk factor and disease is a “gateway” criterion, but it is in identifying an association that bias can be most disruptive. The most recent additions to searching for truth are derived from paradigms of evidence-based medicine: systematic reviewing and meta-analysis, and most recently a GRADE assessment. Current levels for determining statistical significance are not fit for purpose and a stricter level is proposed.
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- Bias!How Systemic Error Threatens Biomedical Research, pp. 172 - 179Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2026
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