What is a biased sample?

A biased sample occurs when a study's sample is systemically more

likely to be chosen for the study. It refers to a situation in which the
research sample favors a certain group of people. A biased sample
threatens the validity of a study because it doesn't provide an
accurate representation of the population. Biased samples lead to
skewed results because the study underrepresents certain
populations.

Types of biased samples

Biased samples may come from researcher error or unintentional
factors that encourage certain types of people to participate in the
study. There are a few types of biased samples, including:

 Self-selection: Self-selection is when a person agrees to be a

part of a study. This can lead to a biased sample as someone
could argue that certain people are more likely to volunteer to
be a part of a study.
 Undercoverage: Undercoverage occurs when a study doesn't
include all populations. This can occur from limited access to
research studies, such as leaving out participants with no
internet connection or access to researchers.
 Non-response: Non-response occurs when a certain
population of people refuses to be a part of a study. This can
lead to a biased sample because those who don't respond to a
 research invitation may be busier or have less access to the
resources they need to participate in the study.
 Pre-screening: Pre-screening can occur when a researcher
pre-screens or interviews potential participants before including
them in the study. This can lead to a biased sample because it
can encourage the researcher to choose participants who are
more willing to influence the results of the study in the
direction they want.
 Survivorship: Survivorship is when a researcher chooses
participants who they can describe as successful. This can lead
to a biased sample as the researcher chooses the participants
more likely to lead to favorable results.

EXAMPLES OF BIASED SAMPLES

Biased samples may occur in a variety of research situations. Here
are a few examples of biased samples:

 Probability biased sample example

A researcher wants to find out how high school GPAs predict
college success rates. They assign all students in their grade a
random number and then choose the sample from those numbers.
While the selection of students in the study was random, not all
college students had a chance to be a part of the study, and the
sample only includes students within the same grade. Students also
had to sign up to be a part of the study, which could indicate that
high school GPA has an influence on which students want to
participate in campus research projects.

 Non-probability biased sample example

A researcher wants to study the sleep habits of college students
for a freshman project. They send out an invitation to other
students in their class who agree to be a part of the study in return
that the researcher also participates in their study. This is a sample
made out of convenience and only includes students who are all in
the same class. This sample is unlikely to represent how sleep
affects all college students accurately because everyone in the study
is in the first year of their college education and may all share a
common field of study.

 Prescreening biased sample example

A researcher wants to measure how the number of hours of cardio
each week affects stress rates. They send out an invitation to
potential participants and then meet individually with ones that
meet certain criteria, such as availability to attend weekly stress
tests. They only choose participants who have free time to
participate in the study. This leads to a biased sample because it
only includes participants who, as a result of having more free time,
may be less likely to feel more stressed.
 Under coverage biased sample example
A student plans to measure how socioeconomic levels affect college
graduation rates at their ivy league university. They invite all
students of the school they attend to participate in the study and
ask them to report their family's income. This doesn't accurately
represent all populations and only focuses on students at this
specific university. Using data from an ivy league university with
competitive acceptance rates and high tuition costs may skew the
data and not cover all populations.