gender bias

• alpha bias

  theories that assume these biases are real - tends to exaggerate differences between men and women
• beta bias

  theories ignore or minimise cultural and gender differences between men and women
• androcentricism

  a male centred standpoint - means that most research is conducted by males with male participants
• alpha bias study

  Wilson - reason why 95% of bank manager, company directors and judges are male rather than female is because men are more competitive and dominant
• beta bias study

  Asch - conformity study used only male participants, it was assumed that the results would be applicable to women
• stages in the research process

  1. formulation of research question
  2. research design
  3. selection of participants
  4. interpretation of results
  5. publishing of research
  6. theory application
• Maccoby and Jacklin - 4 real differences between boys and girls

  • girls have greater verbal ability
  • boys have greater visual and spatial ability
  • boys have greater arithmetical ability
  • girls are less aggressive than boys
• implications of gender bias

  may create misleading information about female behaviour, fail to challenge negative stereotypes
• beta bias

  makes people see men and women as equal leading to equal access to education and employment
• reflexivity

  the role of personal beliefs in research
• reflexivity - Dambrin and Lambert

  _studied the lack of women in executive positions in accountancy firms

  _they reflected on how their gender related experiences influenced their leadings of events

  _this led to greater awareness of the role of personal biases in shaping future research