bias

Everyday

1. Bias is an unfair way of favouring one person, side or idea over others, often without good reason: a referee with a bias towards one team. tree →
2. To bias someone or something is to make them unfair or one-sided; «biased» means unfair and one-sided. tree →
3. In maths and science, bias is when results are pushed in one direction by the way you test or collect data, so they are not fair or accurate. tree →
4. In sewing, cutting cloth «on the bias» means cutting diagonally across the threads. tree →
5. In bowls (lawn bowls), the bias is the weight that makes the ball curve. tree →

In the lessons

In media and citizenship lessons pupils learn to spot bias in news, adverts and websites: who wrote it, what side they want you to take, and what is left out. In science and maths, a fair test avoids bias; a survey asking only your friends is biased. In computing lessons, AI can show bias if it learns from unfair examples. Phrases: biased towards, biased against, without bias, unconscious bias, bias in a survey.

Examples

• The referee was accused of bias towards the home team. tree →
• This website is biased because it only shows one side. tree →
• Ask lots of different people so your survey is not biased. tree →
• A coin that lands on heads too often may have a bias. tree →
• Try to read the news without bias. tree →
• Everyone has some bias, so it helps to check other views. tree →
• The advert biased people towards buying the sweets. tree →
• AI can copy the bias in the data it learns from. tree →

Note

Noun: countable or uncountable (a bias, biases; some bias). Adjective: biased (spelt with one s in most places; «biassed» is rare). Pronounced «BY-us». «Biased towards» means favouring; «biased against» means unfair against. In maths: a biased dice or coin does not give each result an equal chance, so probabilities like one half or one sixth do not apply.