Goals, overview. Everything created by us contains our bias. This includes written work. After all, one of the hallmarks of language arts programs across the U.S. is teaching our children how to construct persuasive arguments, rather than balanced position papers, just in case, I suppose, they might all decide to become lawyers. The result is that when they write they write with bias by design. Thus, we should not be surprised that the art of writing is often an expression of the art of bias.
Detecting bias in writing is especially problematic because words have the appearance of being conservative in the age of fast moving multimedia. After all, with writing there are no quick technical events, no persuasive music. Just silent, frozen words on a page.
But the fact is that even reports that strive to be objective can’t help but be at least somewhat biased, just by virtue of what their authors report, what they omit and whatever unconscious biases they happen to have. So, we tend to turn to statistics and formal research for “the truth.” Yet even this is flawed by virtue of how research is conducted, and, in the case of the article you will read, how questionnaire questions are worded. The goal of this activity is to explore one example of how wording can be subtly used to create significant perceptual shifts.
Activities. Read “When Words Decide” by Barry Schwartz (Scientific American Mind, V 18, No. 4, Sept 2007). We will provide a link to the article through Fielding resources.
Forum discussion question: Based on your activities this week, what kinds of things will you be looking for when you read articles that use statistics or other "factual" information? Respond to this question, as well as at least two other posts from colleagues. Discussion concludes over the weekend.
Post on your blog, using the heading “Bias in wording.” Post a minimum of 2-3 paragraphs about what you discovered about Prospect Theory and the bias of wording. What are your “take-away” realizations as a result of this activity? As always, feel free to note any biases you suspect in the materials you used. Also, be vigilant about using visually differentiated text in your presentation. Remember: blogs need to be updated by Sunday evening.
Did this topic interest you? Then read “Why Free is the Future of Business” from Wired Magazine. It will challenge your notion of what the word “free” actually means.
Links and resources
- New Bias Explored - How to read the news
