STAT 311 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Pepsi Challenge, Simple Random Sample, Covariate
Document Summary
Bias occurs when a study is set up in such a way that its results will tend to be systematically wrong (as opposed to just wrong because of random chance and inherent uncertainty). Blinding and double blinding are methods that are used to try and eliminate a kind of bias that occurs when researchers and subjects are aware of which group is which in a study (usually a controlled experiment. To motivate this concept, consider the pepsi challenge . This is a taste test that was used by the pepsi corporation, in which participants were asked to compare a cup of pepsi to a cup of coca- If the participants are handed cups labeled pepsi and coke , then their responses may be biased because they may have preconceived notions of which product they prefer. In order to eliminate this potential source of bias, the study should be blinded.
